Crimson Wings
by SilverWolf-Ryuki
Summary: Rika had a gap in her life for as long as she knew. Dreams of past forgotten by the morning. One night, meeting her foes, her past memory is restored. Dark ages arise again. With Ryo by her side, and her slayer friends, can Rika save mankind? [RyoxRika]
1. The Gap Is Filled

Chapter 1

* * *

_There it was…dark…black…filthy…_

_It's headed towards me!_

_I ran, and ran…hoping to get away from it. I stretched my wings and soared upwards. But the shadow formed a long string of darkness and pulled my leg: I fell downward. A wave of panic washed over me. This was it…there is no way that the human race could survive now…_

_Just as I was about to be devoured by the black beast with no shape, a bright light glowed. _

_I looked up, right into a pair of blue eyes… _

_…Blue eyes, brown hair, a pair of snow white wings…_

_He slashed his sword at the string of shadow holding me in place. I flew up, free of the beast's grasp. I grabbed the hand of my savior and motioned him to follow me to my hiding place, which was safe of any shadows. _

_Though…it was not easy…_

_The shadow pounced at us and reached up to devour us. It wanted our power and our shadows so that it could be stronger. _

_I turned to look at the beast behind me, I did not realize until the blue-eyed boy shouted for me to look out. It was, of course, too late. I flew straight into the darkness of the shadow's body. Blackness swallowed me, muffled me, it stopped me from crying out. It suffocated me, took away my powers and broke up my shadow. Without my shadow, I floated into a black pool of nothingness…_

_- - -_

A girl with chestnut hair and icy violet eyes bolted out of bed. Beads of sweat covered her face. She panted as she tried to remember what of her dream scared her so much. All she could remember, however, was a black ocean of nothingness.

14-year-old Rika Nonaka frowned as she checked the time. It was 2 hours before her radio alarm clock was supposed to ring. She got out of bed and dragged herself to the bathroom. She opened the tap and splashed cold water on her face, waking her up. She looked at herself in the mirror. Ever since she was old enough to think sophisticatedly, she felt as if there was a gap in her memory, a gap in her life, a gap in her soul. Something was not clear to her.

Since she turned 14, Rika has been having nightmares about a certain thing, yet when she wakes up, she does not remember a thing. All she could see from the previous night is a black sea of nothing. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she could see a pair of clear blue eyes, or even a flash of snow white feathers of a pair of wings.

15 minutes later, Rika emerged out of the washroom. Her hair was wet from her shower and she was wrapped in a bathrobe. Reaching into her closet, she brought out a black pair of pants and a black shirt with a skull on the front. She slipped off the robe and fitted herself comfortably in her random garments.

She yawned and wandered into the kitchen of her house. It was her mother's house, to be exact. She opened her fridge and looked inside, she pulled out an apple and closed the fridge door. She peeked down the hallway to her mother's room; there was no sign that told her that her mother was there.

_Gasp…_She thought sarcastically. _She went to a photo shoot…big surprise…_

Rika thought of her mother's job and shuddered. Why do people have models anyways? Why don't they just use dummies? Why do people design clothes? Especially those crazy kinds, they weren't needed. If she wanted, Rika could design a whole fashion show with a few different pairs of jeans and shirts.

"Adults…" Rika muttered and bit her apple. She was careful to be quite, incase she woke her grandmother, who will surely insist she eat something more than an apple. If she refuses, her grandmother would take it that she was on a diet. Rika frowned and walked to the door of her house. She slipped on a jacket and slid the door open and took a step out; only to almost be ran over by some crazy guy on rollerblades.

She took a surprised step back just as the blader sped past her. She shook her head and cursed under her breath. It seems like people don't know how to have control these days. However, the guy who skated past her skated back. She was surprised because she expected the guy to just go away without doing anything to do with her. The guy, however, pulled to a stop in front of her.

"Hey…sorry I almost hit you. Are you alright?"

She turned to make a smart comment when she met his eyes. It looked so familiar…clear blue…it was the pair of eyes she saw in her dream.

"No…problem…" She said and slowly turned around. Her brain ran about one hundred thousand kilometers per second, trying to relate the situations. Though, as fast as that is, no answer came to her.

Rika slowly started to walk towards the park, when she realized that the guy was still there.

"Have we met before?"

The guy said with a curious frown. He slowly skated towards her.

"I don't believe so." She replied.

"I'm sorry then, because you look oddly familiar." He gave a smile.

She turned to face him. "Unless we met at our previous lives, then no I have never seen you before." She said. "Or…unless you are relating me to my mother, who is quite well known, sadly."

"Who is your mother?"

"Rumiko Nonaka" She sighed and continued to walk towards Shinjuku park.

"Ah, her…" The guy said. "No it's not that…it's just…" He said, and his voice trailed off. "Never mind…sorry to bother you. Maybe I'll see you again." He shrugged and skated away.

"Hopefully not…" She muttered, but inside, she had an urge to figure out more about him. But there is more than one person on this planet that has blue eyes, so meeting him was probably just luck. Rika felt she knew the answer; somewhere it lies in the shadows of her mind.

- - -

"Hey Rika!"

Rika turned to see a girl with pale blond hair smiled at her. She put her backpack down on the seat next to Rika.

"Hey Alice…"

Alice McCoy was Rika's friend since they were in grade 5. Not very long, but the bond between the two friends were unexplainable. They both were new at the school that they met in and they were friends instantly, without realizing it. They both 'didn't need friends', yet they became friends. It was, in fact, unexplainable, but true.

"I like the new seating plan…" Alice said as she looked at her desk. It had a piece of tape and the words 'Alice McCoy' on it. Rika had the same piece, but instead, it had 'Rika Nonaka' on it. They hooked their backpacks on the backs of their chair and they sat down.

(A/N: Being Chinese, in Asian countries such as China and Japan, there are two terms. After every term and in the middle of every term, there is a big test. Seating plans are rarely changed, but it does change after every term. The seating plans are usually pairs, and there ware usually boy-girl and boy-boy seats. Yes, the number of males is larger than females. Took me a while to adjust… . It might be different in Japan, so I am allowing all possible pairs for seating: boy-girl, boy-boy and girl-girl.)

"I hear we have a new student, eh?" Alice whispered and nudged Rika. Rika turned to listen – there was no point in trying not to.

"Another snobby brat who wanted to change schools?" Rika raised an eyebrow.

(A/N: Yes, another thing…it was quite rare for people to transfer in the middle of the year. nod, nod or at least, it was in my old school. My old school was the second best in the whole city, so I trust it. I'm not trying to brag, just telling ya incase you don't believe me.)

The second bell rang, the whole class straightened up to wait for the teacher to enter.

"Nope, I heard he transferred in from America."

"Ah…an American…joy…" Rika muttered. "I hate all the Americans that were my mom's boyfriend."

"You hate ALL your mom's boyfriends…" Alice pointed out.

Rika thought. "True…" She said.

Suddenly, the door slid open and a brown-haired woman who was dressed formally stepped in. She looked superiorly at the class. "Good morning class."

"Good morning Miss Kamiya." The class chorused.

(A/N: I'm borrowing Kari and Tai's last name, because Kari was a teacher. I know Kari is OOC so far, but this is not Kari. It's…just her last name.)

"I hope I do not have to move you from your new seating. I tried to put you where you will be happy, yet you won't talk too much." She said sternly. "Now…"

She turned to get a piece of snow-white chalk. She turned sharply back. "We have a new student. His name is Ryo Akiyama." She turned again to write his name on the board. "Please enter, Ryo." She called out.

The door slid open. A boy with brown spiky hair and blue eyes walked in. He slowly made his way beside the teacher's desk, which is in front of the class.

"Do introduce yourself, Ryo." The teacher said in an almost sarcastic tone.

"Hai. My name is Ryo Akiyama. I came from America, but I was born in Japan. I simply moved to America because of my parents' career, which included jumping back and forth between countries. They happened to have a long research project to do in America, and they had to move to America. So I moved there as well. I'm happy to be back in Shinjuku." He concluded, his clear blue eyes flashing. He looked directly at Rika.

Rika blinked. As if things couldn't get any worse, the boy she met earlier transferred to her class. It seems fate is way to lucky today.

"Yes…very ahem…interesting." The teacher said. "You may take a seat in front of…ah…Rika."

Rika groaned silently and her head fell onto the desk. The teacher, however, noticed this. She frowned.

"Seeing you are so _happy_ to see our new student, you may show him around the school at recess." She smiled viciously.

Rika closed her eyes. "Hai…" She replied with poison in her voice. Pleased with her work, the teacher opened her book. She started to write on the board and teaching about elements of a good story. Rika had her head propped onto her hand, but she was listening and jotting down a note or two with her free hand. After 30 minutes, the bell rang for the next period. The teacher closed her book.

"Before you go, turn to page 268 in your writing book and you will see the expectations of an adventure story. I expect the first copy, at least, done by tomorrow."

The whole class said a 'Hai' and packed up. There was a 5-minute break to get their stuff in between periods.

"What do we have next?" Alice asked Rika.

"When will you ask for another schedule?" Rika asked Alice back. She sighed. "We have gym."

"Yeah!" Alice cheered and pulled out her gym clothes from her backpack.

Rika sighed and got hers.

- - -

They were doing touch football reviews for gym, and despite the fact that Rika was good at it: it was boring. Finally, after 5 minutes, the teacher divided up the students into teams and started up the game.

"HUT!"

The football was thrown and caught. A trail of people ran after one person, who was running towards where Rika stood. The person was Ryo, the blue-eyed boy that Rika met earlier. Rika yawned – she didn't feel like playing.

"Afraid you can't catch me?" The boy smirked and said as he ran past Rika. Rika twitched and within a second, she bolted after him. Reaching out and picking up speed, she touched Ryo with both her hands. The force caused him to fall onto the ground. Though he was slightly hurt, he started to laugh.

"Easily angered, I suppose?" He smirked. Rika closed her eyes.

"Just don't challenge me at things I am good at." Rika said calmly, despite how she just ran across the football field to catch Ryo in less than a minute.

"I'll keep that in mind…" He said as he stood up. By then, the rest of the class has already reached them.

"ON SIDE…SAY…HUT!"

Rika caught the ball and threw it at Henry Wong, who was already on the other side of the field. He caught it and within a second, Rika's team cheered like mad.

"NICE!" Takato, a brown haired goggle-head said to Henry as they exchanged high fives.

Without realizing it, Rika participated in the game once again. In no time, gym class was over.

"Time flies when you are having fun, eh?"

Ryo gave Rika one of his smiles. Rika smirked.

"And I thought it only flies when you are winning…well, I guess having your ass whooped passes time too…" She said. "You're living proof!"

"Ha…ha…" Ryo said sarcastically. "Now…about that tour around the school…"

"Oh, I was hoping you forgot…shoot…" Rika said in a fake bitter voice. She shook her head mockingly.

"You don't have to take me…" Ryo shrugged. "I already know the school…"

"Great…" She said and walked away.

"Oh wait!" He said as he tapped her shoulder. Rika turned around, and then everything went black.

- - -

_The being swallowing me was the last thing I remembered. Then, when I woke up, I was in a bed in my hiding place. I bolted up, but was rewarded by a sharp hot pain in…well…every part of my body. Someone was beside me. I turned to face them. _

_It was the person who rescued me. _

_"What…?" I waited for the rest of the sentence to come out of my mouth, but I had too much things to ask. _

_"I killed the shadow, and I had to retrieve your power crystal and your shadow in order for you to be alive again. Then, I took the image from your head of your hiding place and transported us there." He explained briefly. _

_"Oh…thank you…" I said slowly. I plopped back onto the bed, which made me ache more, but I soon got used to it. _

_I stared at the ceiling, when suddenly someone called my name. _

_I turned to the person beside my bed. "Did you just-"_

_The voice called out. But it wasn't the guy beside my bed. I frowned. _

_My vision started to blur…_

_I fell into a deep blackness…_

_- - -_

Rika opened her eyes suddenly. She winced as a sharp pain came from her head and back. She looked around; she was in the nurse's room. The nurse smiled kindly at her.

"You were blank for quite a while." The nurse said. "But since you are awake, you may go. There was nothing wrong with you, so I don't understand why you passed out suddenly, but its ok. Just take it easy for the next few days."

"Oh…thanks…" Rika smiled at the nurse. The smile faded as she climbed off of the bed and onto the floor. She checked her watch; there was 25 more minutes to school. There was no point in going to class, so she went out the main door and walked home.

- - -

She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but there was something that stopped her from going to sleep beside the sharp pains in her back. Rika tried to touch her back, just incase there was something there that was causing the giant amount of pain. She turned to look at her back in the mirror. She frowned; it looked like she has two bumps in her back. But it must have been her imagination, because…bumps? What would grow on her back that made a bump that wide?

Suddenly, something at the corner of her eyes moved. Rika looked at that direction, but there was nothing there except the shadow of her desk.

She rubbed her eyes: she must be going crazy. Rika sighed – it was 2:00am and she isn't even tired. It was unusual. Maybe a walk would help…

Rika opened the window of her room and jumped out. She landed on the grassy surface of her lawn. Inhaling the fresh night air, Rika smiled.

Wandering down her street, she looked at the beautiful stars. They were the stars from possibly a million light years ago.

_Still, they are beautiful…_she thought. But then, a black shade covered the view of the stars. First, she thought it was just her imagination. But it is real – there was a giant patch of shadow hovering above her. She turned to see a giant blob of black.

Rika's eyes widened.

This was it…one of the shadows…

It was then all the past memories broke through the barrier she's created for herself. Centuries of memory flashed across Rika's eyes.

It was painful.

It was bizarre.

It was true.

Rika put her hands to her head. She bent over at the pain, both physical and emotional. It felt like her heart was being torn and stabbed at. She fell onto her knees; her hands were still clutching her head.

"It can't be…" Rika whispered.

Rika threw her head back and she gave out a cry that pierced the silent night air, a cry that could not be heard by humans.

The skin on Rika's back split, and snow white wings stretched out. Rika gave another cry, and a burst of white light escaped from Rika's body. It flashed in all directions. It clung onto the beast's body, and the black blob shattered like glass. The black bits spread out in all directions. It reformed to the being it was before.

Without any strength left over from retrieving memories from the past centuries, Rika fell onto the cold concrete of the ground.

Just as the blob was about to swallow her up, a being with a sword flew in and slashed the sword at the being. It produced a beam of light; it melted the shadow into the ground. The being gently touched down. His wings folded. His clear blue eyes fell on Rika, who was lying in a small puddle of blood caused by the sudden growth of the wings. The eyes softened.

"Welcome back, oh great slayer…" He said in an unearthly voice.

He picked the girl up, and soared upwards…

- - -

Ryuki: Hmm…I'm quite proud of the beginning…it didn't turn out as I planned, but its OK. My first Digimon fic to post…nod, nod …RYUKI4EVER!!!


	2. Ryo With Wings?

Chapter 2

* * *

At first, it seemed like an ordinary morning when one's back ached from a bad nights sleep. Then, the aching became quite strange, for there was an unusual stiffness, as if there was something poking out of on one's back throughout the whole night.

Rika shifted onto her back, but sat up immediately, as if she just lied on a fragile part of her body. She looked back at her back, and there stood a pair of snow-white wings. The feathers were unruffled by the slumber. Rika sighed.

"I guess…it wasn't a dream…" Rika whispered to herself. Then she looked at her alarm clock. It was nearly 9:00.

Cursing under her breath, Rika bolted out of bed and ran in the washroom. 5 minutes later, she rushed to her closed and pulled out some random garments. She tried to put them on, and was rewarded by the sharp pain coming from her wings.

_Oh, just great…I can't go anywhere with my wings…_Rika bit her lips. To make the matter worse, Rika's mother was taking a day off. That means wherever she goes around the house, except her room, people would freak out because of her wings. Dressing was easier; Rika would just cut slits in her clothing for her wings. But…facing people…

Then, she realized: It was Saturday. Rika felt stupid for getting up in a hurry and worrying about things. Yet, her mother and grandmother would still see her wings.

Rika took at deep breath. _Mother understood some things before…so…perhaps…I could tell her…_Sliding her bedroom door open, she walked into the hallway that led into the kitchen, where her mother and grandmother were.

"Oh, good morning Rika, honey." Rumiko smiled at her. Rika closed her eyes and expected a surprised gasp, and perhaps a comment of her wings. But it didn't come. Rika cautiously sat at the table in silence and waited for 15 more minutes, then, she stood up.

"Mom…" Rika said, shocked. "Aren't you going to say something about my wings?"

Rumiko looked at her daughter with a strange expression. "Wings? What wings? Rika, I think you've been reading too much fiction."

That's when it came to her.

No one could see her wings.

No one could, except her and the creatures of her own kind.

…Where were they?

"Anyways…" Rumiko continued. "The boy who just moved in the neighborhood, Ryo, found you out on the street last night. He brought you back in, so today if you see him, you should at least thank the young gentleman."

"…Ryo…?" Rika blinked. What does Ryo have to do with this? This is becoming way to lucky to be a coincidence.

- - -

The ring of the phone startled Rika, who was reading her usual junk load of fiction. She picked up the phone and pressed on.

"Hello, Nonaka residence. Rika speaking."

"Rika, you've got to stop answering the phone like that. It doesn't suit you." The voice replied. It was Alice…typical…

"I can't help that my mother's company and the fashion shooters still call our home phone. If I said hello, they would consider it rude and yell at me in an Italian or French accent. " Rika grumbled.

"Didn't your mother tell them her cell?"

"Yeah, but recently, some new people got a hold of our home phone, because no body bothered updating the models' list that tells which number to call to get a hold of them."

"Ah…pity…I always thought they were just slightly smarter and more organized than that…"

"Anyways…why did you call?"

"Since its SATURDAY, maybe we could…I don't know…go out with Henry, Takato, Jeri, Kazu – you know, the usual gang and goof around."

"Eh…Kazu, Kenta and Goggle-head are going?"

"They've matured…"

"Right."

"Still, it'll be fun for a change."

Rika sighed. "Why not."

A sharp squeal from the other line nearly deafened Rika. Alice sighed, "be right back," she said.

Then came the distant and muffled shouts of Alice to Jeri, who was eavesdropping on the other phone.

"Now…where were we?" She said as she returned after 2 minutes.

"Where do we meet?"

There was silence as Alice thought about it. "We'll come to pick you up at 8." She said after a short period. Rika sighed.

"Alright then…see ya."

Rika hung up. Her hand touched the soft white feathers of her wings. _Going out with these could be a little problem…_

Sighing, Rika looked at the time. She had 2 hours before the group would arrive. She thought about the last time she went out on a 'goof off'. First, they went around, sticking stickers onto random parked cars. They made sure that the bumper sticker was the exact opposite mood as the car. Then, they got caught and ran away into an alley and stayed there for 10 minutes before they decided that they wanted to play truth and dare.

Truth and dare…you may think its not bad. Well, it is when you have the group of friends that Rika did. After the madness, screaming and nearly strangling each other, some teenager thieves cornered them. But Rika kicked the crap out of them, so no worries. (She does well for a 14-year-old, you know…)

Afterwards they went to the ice cream shop, but were kicked out by the owner because of Kazu having ice cream coming out of his nose when he laughed. It was truly a disturbing sight. Afterwards, they wandered around the small alley, and nearly got hit by a wandering car and a drunken motorcycle driver.

As if that couldn't get any stranger, the next day, the police who was chasing them found them and apologized. The guy who owned the car liked the bumper stickers.

Rika wondered if it would be weirder this time.

After what seemed like 15 minutes, but was really 2 hours, the doorbell rang. Rika looked at the clock – it was time to go! Time flies when you are staring into space. She ran into the living room, forgetting about her wings, and swung the door open. There stood Alice with her mouth open, about to say hi. Rika quickly slid the door shut again, and ran to her room. She pulled out her shoes and her wallet. She rushed into the living room and slid opened the door again.

Alice stood there, tapping her foot and her arms were crossed.

"Eh…oops…" Rika said and shrugged. "Mom! I'm going out with Alice and co."

"Alright Rika, be back before midnight!"

"Right…sure…" Rika said in a hurried manner and slid the door behind close her. She sighed, inhaling the fresh air of dusk. She looked at the pinkish sky, and closed her eyes. She turned to Alice as she opened her eyes again.

"So, where are we going?"

"I'm not sure…Takato, Jeri, Kazu, Kenta and Henry are right outside. Why don't you ask them?"

"If they suggest the mall, I ain't going." Rika said firmly.

"The mall does have food shops, and Digimon card stores…" Alice pointed out.

"True…but if we are going there, I am not taking one step into a clothing shop where there are pink frilly dresses." Rika crossed her arms stubbornly. "I get ENOUGH of them at mum's fashion shoots. I mean, if they are going to give me free clothes, at least give me something I'd wear."

"Well, they are idiots…aren't they?" Alice said as they reached the corner where the others were standing.

"HEY! Who did you call idiots?" Kazu cried.

"You." Rika immediately replied.

"No you weren't…" Kazu scoffed.

"If you know, then why did you ask?" Alice said challengingly.

Kazu muttered something not audible. Everyone knew it was either a complaint or a comment about killer mushrooms taking over the world.

"Well, Kazu…" Kenta said, pushing up his glasses. "Too much fiction is bad for you."

Kazu stared at his best friend with disbelief.

"However…" He continued. "You can start on science fiction!"

Everyone, excluding Rika, fell – anime style.

Jeri giggled. "Isn't fiction and science fiction almost the same thing?" she asked Takato, who blushed furiously because he didn't really know the difference either. Henry sighed.

"Am I the only one here that is SANE?" He asked no one in particular.

"Do I look INSANE to you?" Alice asked the blue haired boy, who 'heh'ed nervously.

"Not really…but hey, you know what I mean…" Henry said as he gave Alice a playful shove. Rika sighed and brushed a strand of loose hair out of her eyes. "Can we get going now? This is great that we are having quality time, but…I prefer trashing cars and dumping garbage in mailboxes."

Alice laughed. "Sure…so, where to first? The alley or the old ice cream shop?"

"THE MALL!!!" Jeri squealed.

"I don't believe that was one of the choices…" Rika muttered.

"Hey, the mall could be fun!" Takato said, sticking up for Jeri, as he thought of the torture times when Jeri dragged him into the shopping center. Hey, anything for one's crush, even f it means spending 2 horrible hours in the dress department.

"Clothing…eh…not my style…" Kazu said as he shook his head. He turned to Kenta. "Comic R Us?"

"YEAH!" Kenta cheered.

Henry groaned. "I don't want to be surrounded by frilly pink…things…they call garments. "

"Ditto…" Rika mumbled.

"We could go to the alley and paint graffiti…" Alice suggested and laughed.

Rika smirked. "Count me in."

"Alright then." Henry concluded. "We all meet back here in 2 hours, then we can all go for a late snack or something. You guys can go eat something, but don't eat too much. I want to freak the shop keeper out by showing him how much you clowns eat."

Kazu, Kenta and Takato grinned.

Ape-like.

But that would be insulting Apes…

They grinned Kazu, Kenta and Takato like.

Rika turned away. "My eyes burn." She mocked.

"Alright, see you guys in two hours!" Jeri waved as she dragged Takato off in the 'dresses' department.

- - -

Rika shook her can of spray paint they just purchased at a nearby store, which is owned by a friend of a friend of Alice's cousin. The can of spray-paint, when shook, produced a sound you would hear if you shook an old fashioned must-shake white out.

"What color do you guys have?" Alice asked and peeked over Henry's shoulder, trying to see his.

"I got…red and whitish gold." Rika said.

"Blue and black." Henry said.

"Black…and white…cool colors! So, what should our next beautiful work of art be?" Alice stared at the blank piece of wall.

"Something with…red, blue, whitish gold and black?" Rika said, staring at the wall as well.

"Um…I'm haven't the best ideas, if you haven't realized…" Henry laughed dryly.

"Oh! I've got it! How's about a girl with black and blue hair and wings, and she is drowning in a pool of blood!" Alice snapped her fingers.

"Yeah! That'll be cool. Her robe can be white…and we can draw lightning above her head." Rika nodded slowly.

"Alright…" Henry nodded and pulled his black. He offered it to the girls, seeing if they wanted to draw the outline.

Rika and Alice shook their head unison and took a step back as he offered the bottle to them.

"YOU DRAW." The girls said firmly. Henry sighed as he turned to start drawing. However, the moment his paint touched the wall, he dropped the tool.

"AH!" He cried as he clutched his hand – it was burnt black. However, it was not burnt by heat, but by coldness. "What the hell was that?" He looked at his burnt hand, and then at the wall. Suddenly, a cold feeling bathed Rika, Alice and Henry in its body. Rika stood there, wide eyed.

"It's the shadows…" She whispered to herself. She took a step back, to give her feet a good grip. She couldn't attack, or do anything, for Alice and Henry were there. She looked at her two friends; there was only one way out of this. "RUN!" She yelled.

No complaints came as the 3 started to run, and they arrived at a bigger alley. However, the wall they came upon stopped them from going anywhere. The 3 took steps back, away from the wall, but the shadow was right behind them. The 3 turned to face the shadow. It was black, and it took no shape in specific. It floated and walked, it was so dark, darker than the night itself.

A silvery sheet of moonlight fell upon the three, but it clung onto Rika as if the moonlight was children hugging their favorite aunt. The moon showed its face, it peeked out from behind the dark grey mass of clouds. Rika winced and closed her eyes: could this be because she was about to die again?

Alice and Henry looked at Rika, who was almost glowing with light blue and silver.

"I can't let them…kill the innocent…again!" Rika said through gritted teeth. She felt so useless; there was nothing she could do. Until, someone, or something, from behind shot a wave of grey at Henry and Alice. Alice and Henry froze; a sheet of dull grey covered them. Rika stared, wide eyed, at her fallen friends. She slowly turned to look at who was responsible.

It was a boy, no older then 15.

He had brown hair.

He took a step into the moonlight; his blue eyes glistened with anger and determination.

Behind him was a pair of wings.

Snow white wings, with its snow white feathers that gently swayed with the night breeze…

It was Ryo.

- - -

Thank you to all who reviewed for the previous chapter:

Dragon star: I am so flattered that you would call this fic brilliant. Yes, it's true I need to improve in many ways…but hey: I'm only me. And also, about Yami Ryuki…that might even be true…

Luzr-Gurl13: Thank you for the compliment…I do hope that this story will turn out to be a success. Maybe it will be someday…someday…nod, nod

Old Penguin: You think Rika is in character? Well…you MIGHT change your mind after this chapter…ne? Well…thank you for the compliment.

Ao-Senshi: I tried to do as you warned me: not putting author's notes everywhere. What could I say? I like to talk…-.-; I agree…Ryuki FOREVER!!! XD

Kari-124: I apologize that this story is confusing…I'll try to put more descriptions for the Shadow. Thank you for your compliment though.

- - -

Anyways…Yeah…I don't really have anything else to say. I hope you enjoyed that. Ja!


	3. First Flight and A Shadow's Escape

Chapter 3

* * *

It was almost too strange and impossible to believe that Ryo was one of her kind. He must have been the one who saved her from the shadow years and years ago, and the one who assisted her in capturing the head of the shadow soldiers.

Despite that, Rika stared at the angelic figure.

His blue eyes glistened, his brown hair rustled in the night wind, as did the feathers on his snow-white wings. He wielded a sword that looked as if the blade was on fire. A ruby-red gem was embedded in it and it twinkled like the stars above.

Ryo turned sharply to look at Rika. He nodded towards her in a polite manner and it total respect.

Rika blinked; she was surprised that he would treat her in any way of respect and proper manner. She looked at the shadow, which was diving towards them.

Rika panicked, she hasn't practiced flying yet. What if her wings aren't strong enough? Before the shadow reached her, Ryo swooped down and grabbed Rika out of the way. They were hovering in mid-air, but Ryo's wings, as strong as they are, could not support two people for too long. Rika saw that, she bit her lips.

"Ryo," she called up to the boy. "Set me down. I want to try to fly once again."

Ryo looked down, and nodded. He set her onto the ground. Rika gripped her hands into a fist. Slowly, she stretched her wings out and started to flap it. A fair gust of wind started to gather around Rika. Rika slowly took a step back, but she was afraid, afraid that she would fall and die once again. She could still feel the pain and sting of her last death.

The Shadow, seeing that Rika was about to regain flight, decided it didn't want her to fly. It would give her a big advantage. So the shadow pounced towards Rika.

"RIKA! Behind you!" Ryo called out, and was about to swoop in to lift her out of the way. But a blade of black ki blew him back and he struck a wall.

Rika, seeing that the shadow had knocked Ryo away, Rika was on her own for a while. Frowning and gathering all the scraps of confidence, Rika pushed off of the ground and her wings stretched out. It gave a graceful push and Rika was in the air. She hovered, receiving the sensation of flight back in her veins. She smiled, but it faded as she saw Ryo slowly trying to get up. She soared over to where he was and helped him up.

"You got flight back?" Ryo said as he brushed dirt, dust, and powdered concrete off of him.

Rika nodded, they both flew upwards.

"Here, you might need this as well." Ryo said as he raised his arm. A wave of light gold dust blew and gathered in his hand. Out of nowhere, a bold of lightning shone in the sky, alone without the thunder. The bright light was blinding compared to the dark night sky. Electricity from the lightning shot down towards Ryo's group of dust. Another lightning flashed, and a sword formed in his hand. It was light and it had an indescribable color. It was bright, like the flash of white lightning. It was also silver, like the sheet of moonlight that shone across parts of the dark alley. It was gold, like the soft rays of sunlight that brightened the Earth. Embedded in it was a drop of jewel that was a bluish silvery light gold.

To Rika's surprise, Ryo levitated the sword towards Rika. Without realizing it, Rika reached out and gripped its handle, the weight of the sword weighed upon her arm. The sword felt right in her hands.

Rika closed her eyes, and another small piece of the puzzle of her past life was put it. She had a sword that she battled with. The gap in her life was slowly being filled to its maximum.

Temporarily, she forgot about the shadow, until it decided to attack again. This time, however, she was ready. Rika gripped the sword, which jumped with freshly charged electricity. The energy did not hurt her hand, but it did sting just a bit. A pleasant sting of power, it was, not something that would become hurtful.

Flying up towards the shadow, Rika swung her sword through the air. A bright bluish light of ki flew out and trapped the shadow within its light. The light slowly disintegrated the ball of darkness into nothingness.

Smiling with pride, Rika touched down onto the ground. Since she had not done this in a long time, a single kill made her very proud. But centuries ago, if she made a kill like that, she would have laughed at the stupidity of the weak shadow and the feeble attack she used on it. Things were different, and it is going to take a lot getting used to.

Ryo closed his eyes and smiled as well. The great slayer of the past made her first kill in centuries. Even if it was simple, it was a bravo for her. They were both too caught up in their own business to realize that bits of the shadow still remained.

They twitched, and inched towards Henry and Alice. The only thing that slowed them was the moonlight that was shining brightly overhead. They hid in the shadows Henry and Alice created. And once Ryo frees them from their trap, they would take over. Then, the great slayer and her friend will pay for what they did…

- - -

It was late morning, and the gang gathered at Shinjuku Park's little 'cave' where they used to meet as young kids. The sky was getting noticeably darker, yet the sun seems to be brighter. It was an unusual day – that was certain.

"There is nothing wrong with you two…" Rika reassured Henry and Alice, who felt as if they lost 30 minutes in their life. They were too smart for their own good. Rika knew they did lose 30 minutes, but other than that, she was pretty sure nothing was wrong. Last night, after the accident, Ryo had freed the two from the time barrier.

"How can I be fine, when I have a sudden urge to rip the sun from the sky?" Alice demanded. She and Henry hid in the darkest shadows of the cave where the gang was fooling around in.

"Sunstroke?" Takato suggested.

"…Great explanation Takato, sunstroke…" Henry said sarcastically as he shook his head. His eyes and complexion darkened by the second. "Even the shadow slayers are smarter than that…"

"Henry, what did you just say?" Rika frowned as she thought she heard the words 'shadow slayers'. Henry was not one of those people who believed in some cartoon or T.V. Show. So the only way that he would believe is if he saw them with his own eyes. Ryo's barrier must have worked, because they did feel as if they lost 30 minutes in their life. Then why did they suddenly mention 'shadow slayers'?

"Nothing of your concern…" Alice snapped, sticking up for Henry. Rika's frown deepened. She had a hypothesis of what happened, but she wasn't sure if it was true. However, the more she thought of it, the more it made sense. She stood up from her spot and brushed dirt off of her pants.

"I am going to see if…er…my mom has my…form for the…er… team." She lied, and rushed off. Her senses twitched and like radar, it told Rika that Ryo was in the library. Sighing, Rika bolted down the street that led towards the library.

"What team?" Kazu asked after he watched Rika disappear down the street. Kenta shrugged.

- - -

Something wasn't right. Ryo sensed Rika coming up to the front door in a hurry, and her mind was clouded with worry and suspicion. She reached the library door, and swung it open.

"Ryo…" she hissed as quietly as she could.

"What now? I am busy!"

"I have something important you might want to take a look at…!" She said as she took a hold of the boy's ear and tugged – hard.

"OW, OW, OW, OW, OW Ok, I'll come…" Ryo grumbled as he gathered his books and followed Rika out of the library.

"Remember yesterday night?" Rika said.

"How could I forget? I don't have that bad of a memory…" Ryo joked, but stopped when he saw the expression on Rika's face. His tone of voice got more sophisticated noticeably. "Ok, what happened?"

"It's Henry and Alice…" Rika sighed.

"Oh yeah, they might feel like they lost around…30 minutes of their time." Ryo shrugged.

"I know that, I got most of my memory back, you know…" Rika snapped. "It's the fact that they are starting to despise me, the sun and any source of light. Then, when Takato made a stupid comment, they said: Even the shadow slayers are smarter than that…I think that is more than enough proof that they are connected with the shadows in some sort."

"Not connected with the shadows…" Ryo frowned. "Do you think…they saw…?"

"You did put a time barrier around them, did you not? The time barrier should put them into unconsciousness for as long as you wish. Therefore, They should not be able to hear, see or feel anything." Rika said hurriedly, digging up all the information she had of them from the past. "I think…the shadow I killed…was not killed completely…"

"No…if that happened…then…" Ryo frowned. "Rika, you might need to be very careful when you spend time with your friends now. Henry and Alice's shadow may split and slip into other bodies. Right now, perhaps all your friends have been affected.

"No…Takato, Kazu and Kenta are still stupid. Jeri is still giggly. Only Henry and Alice had something wrong with them." She said firmly.

"Never judge them by how they act – it might be a lie. Do you want me to do an energy scan?" Ryo asked. "It's a breeze for me."

Rika glared at the older boy. "Thank you for reminding me how weak I have become because I have not used my powers for so long."

"You're welcome…" Ryo gave her his trademark grin. "More important matters…we need to 'disinfect' your friends."

"How are we going to get the stuff for that?" Rika sighed.

"Oh, don't worry milady." Ryo bowed playfully. "I've got it at my place."

"Seriously…" Rika looked at him with disbelief. "You're parents…don't they mind?"

"They…they are scientists and archeologists…" Ryo smirked. "They find ancient stuff quite interesting…or at least my mom does. You know how much power moms have."

Rika nodded. "Alright…Hey, I have an idea…" Rika smiled. "Why don't you come hang out with us on Monday, so you can see the seriousness of the condition. Plus, scans are more detailed when in a close distance. Also, you are supposed to assist me in getting my powers back, are you not?"

Ryo shrugged. "If you really want me to that bad…" He joked.

Rika glared ice-coated daggers. "Oh, once I restore my powers, I will get my revenge…"

"Sure you will…" Ryo nodded mockingly.

"Oh yeah, I need to borrow some spells to hide my wings…we can't have shadows spotting me easily all the time." Rika said as they walked down the street to Ryo's house to set up for the cleansing ritual for Henry and Alice, and possible others.

"What happened to revenge?"

"Revenge is still on…"

"But now, we go set up on cleansing ritual?"

"Hmm…yeah."

- - -

_I looked at the blue-eyed boy. He seems to be distracted. _

_"What's wrong?" I asked. _

_"The Shadows…it's approaching at a fast speed." He frowned. _

_I closed my eyes – I already knew that. I forgot that he could also sense the movement of the Shadows. He was a strong slayer, but I did not know anything about him at all._

_"What is…your name?" I asked the blue-eyed boy. "You do have a name, right?"_

_"Akiyama." He replied. "Ryo Akiyama."_

_I nodded, and tried to carve the name permanently into my head. I expected him to ask for my name. It didn't come. _

_"Aren't you going to ask for mine?" I asked him with suspicion. _

_He turned to look at me. "I don't need to." He looked away again. "I already know."_

_I was puzzled – how did he know?_

_He seemed to have read my mind. "Your aura, it is unusual, passed down by your family. You have the royal blood of the Nonaka family, and you are the last descendant so far." Ryo smiled. "Rika."_

_I was surprised how someone I never knew knows who I am. I never realized how being in the Nonaka family affected me. Perhaps that is why so many shadows are after my powers. What I didn't get was I am weak. Why would they want the powers of someone so weak?_

_- - -_

Rika's eyes slowly opened. She turned to see she woke up ahead of time – again. She shut her eyes and tried to sleep again, but the drift of slumber would not come. Sighing, Rika climbed out of bed. Like every morning, she stepped into the washroom and came out after 20 minutes. She pulled out random clean garments and slipped them on. She looked back at her wings, it was surprisingly easy to get used to them. Perhaps it is because she has had them for so long in the past, and her memories are slowly coming back.

Rika tied up her semi-wet hair and stepped out into the living room. Surprisingly, Rumiko was already there and sipping coffee.

"Good morning honey." The older woman smiled warmly.

Rika smiled slightly back. "Morning mom." She got some pop tarts out of the fridge and started to 'cook' them. "Is grandma awake?"

"No…if she was, she'd be watching us like a hawk about what we eat…" Rumiko sighed and thought of her mother.

"Tell me about it…" Rika mumbled and stuffed the warm pop tart into her mouth. She took a bite and started to walk into the hallway leading to outside. "I'm going to go to school early." She called and slipped on her shoes. She grabbed her bag and slid open the door.

"Ok, bye hun, have a good day." Rumiko called back.

Rika slipped outside and closed the door behind her. She smiled at the crisp chirp of birds nearby. She checked her watch – she had plenty of time to slowly go to school.

Inside, Rika was slightly worried about Henry and Alice. The shadow inside them might have split and started to control their family as well. But in order to maintain strong control over the victim, the more shadow put into the victim, the stronger the control. Would the shadows risk the weak control to get more people in their 'army'?

Who knows how those shadows think…

In 15 minutes, Rika reached her school. She had moved out of her private school so that she could be with her friends a few years back. Being in a public school does have its pros and cons. One thing, Rika didn't have to wear a uniform everyday, only on special occasions.

Folding back her wings into its invisibility spell, Rika entered the school grounds. She walked into the school building and climbed the stairs to her classroom. She entered, and there were already a few people in it. Takato, Kazu and Kenta were dueling Digimon cards. Ryo was near the 3, shuffling his cards and sorting them out. Jeri was watering the plants, and a few others were just sitting around and talking. Rika dropped her bag on her chair, put her Digimon deck into her cardholder in her belt and approached her friends.

"Yo." She said as she sat down in a free spot to watch Takato and Kenta duel. "Who's winning?"

"Me, as usual." Kenta said smugly as he flipped a card.

"OH NO! Not THAT one AGAIN!" Takato groaned. Rika studied the playing field, and Takato's cards in his hands.

"Can I help?" Rika asked Kenta and Takato. Not waiting for an answer, she took a card out of Takato's hand and placed it on top of wargrowlmon. "Power and speed boost, which should take care of that ultimate over there." Rika said. She looked at Takato's face down cards and smiled evilly. She flipped one. "Boosts all fire element Digimon by 400 for every card it destroyed – I need that card, I'll duel you for it later, Takato – place on Wargrowlmon. As strong as your MarineAngelmon is, Kenta, Wargrowlmon is now stronger. I take it that you can finish it from here, right Takato? Or are you stupider than I thought." Rika smirked.

"She did it again…" Kenta said as a waterfall fell from his eyes. "She destroyed the plot I worked so hard on to complete! NOOOOO!!! How does she do it so easily? It should have worked perfectly!" Kenta literally went crazy.

Rika watched, amused. "I hope you realized, Kenta…" She waved her hands in front of his eyes to get his attention. Once she got it, she started to count the reasons off her finger. "Lets see…first, I am not stupid. Second, I have been playing this way longer. Third, I am smarter than YOU. Fourth, I am the Digimon Queen. It is hard to get anywhere close to beating me in my game."

Ryo, who was watching nearby, laughed. "So, you're not bad at Digimon card games…care to duel me?"

Rika smirked. "First, I need to relieve Takato of his…ah…power boost card." She gave Takato a menacing glance.

Takato whimpered. He took the card out of his deck with a shaky hand and handed it over without any resistant. He thought of the last defeat he had from Rika, it was painful, embarrassing and it was horrible, plain and simple.

Putting on her innocent look, Rika turned to Takato. "You don't want it? Alright, if you want me to have it so much, you should have said so." She took the card out of the goggle-head's hand. "Undamaged…good…" She slipped the card into her back pocked in her deck holder that held her new cards she won.

"Now…who wants to feel the wrath of the Digimon Queen?" Rika asked.

"Well," Jeri said suddenly, pointing to the clock, "School will start in 5."

"Ah, well, too bad. I was just about to accept Ryo's offer to duel me." Rika shrugged and walked over to her desk. Ryo followed, for his desk was close to hers. The first bell rang a while later.

The class settled and sat up, waiting for the teacher to enter, as usual.

The door slid open.

Miss Kamiya scanned the class for a stray, no one stood out. She smiled, quite evilly as a matter of fact. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning Miss Kamiya." The class chorused. The teacher closed her eyes and smiled her devilish smile.

"I hope you have your stories done by today. I forgot to mention, it was for marks."

Part of the class groaned. Rika shrugged and pulled out hers. She had managed to do this after school on Friday.

2 students jumped up to collect them as the teacher pointed to them. The students carefully put them into a neat pile and gave them to the teacher, who nodded at them. "Thank you." She said, without any meaning. She scanned the class again, like a hawk. "I will be marking these. Turn to page 20 and use the self-evaluation chart to estimate what you got. Then, go ahead and do question number 1-106 on pages 168 and 169 in your language notebooks." She picked up a piece of chalk and started to write on the board what she just said. Rika sighed quietly and pulled out her books, a pencil and an eraser. She did not successfully pull out her eraser, for she had probably misplaced it. She turned to Alice to borrow hers, but Alice was not there. She sneaked a peak at Henry's desk; he was not there either. Sighing, she tapped Ryo

"You know they aren't there?" Rika whispered.

"Yeah." Ryo whispered back.

"Can I borrow a pencil?" She whispered loudly, so that the teacher was not suspicious.

"Sure." Ryo did the same as he passed a pencil back.

"Thanks."

A while later, when class was nearly over, the teacher stood up. Her eyes were sparking and a smile sat on her lips. That was rare.

"Class, I want to read a story written by one of you. I will not tell you who it is, but it is amazing and that person is a talented writer." Miss Kamiya said proudly. "This is a story about the sensation of flight. It will be posted outside on the bulletin board. I have hidden the name with a piece of paper, and please do not wreak the wonderful piece of art." She sneaked a peak at Ryo, who suddenly found that the ceiling was very interesting. (A/N: -.-;) She sighed happily. "Class is dismissed, early."

The class cheered silently, and gathered up their stuff. Rika rushed outside to the bulletin board. Ryo followed.

"You wrote about flying?" Rika whispered to him with disbelief. "Seriously, out of ALL the things in the world, you had to write about something you do everyday. Don't you have an imagination about others stuff?"

"Well, flying is an imaginary thing…" Ryo said loudly, glaring at the people walking by who was staring.

"Says the guy who flies every night…" Rika muttered.

"More important things…" Ryo frowned. "How are we supposed to stun the two trouble makers, when they are not at school?"

Rika shook her head. "They'll come. It will be a perfect opportunity to destroy us. Why would they want to pass that?

"Unless they know what we plan to do…" Ryo shrugged. Rika's imagination went to horrible places she did not want to think about.

"Lets hope not…" She said as they walked towards their next class.

- - -

Thanks to all who reviewed for the previous chapter:

Kari-123: Well, I updated. I tried to add a BIT more of a description. But you know, its always more comfortable when you can think of an image in your head that you think might be how the Shadow looks like. People's imagination works differently, and that's what makes fan fiction interesting. Thanks for the compliment.

Luzr-Gurl13: This chapter might not be what you call 'great', but I am planning some action in the next chapter. Thank you for saying that this story is 'perfect'. I'm glad you like it so far, and I'm glad you think that Rika is not OOC. Arigatou.

Alexian-goddess: Yes, this is a Ryo Rika fic, however, there will be a few chapters before the actual teaspoons of romance comes. Thank you for saying that this story is amazing, I'm flattered.

Dragons star: No, you aren't being rude. It's always good to have a few suggestions and constructive criticism. Wow, I used big words!! XD (jkn…) Anyways…I usually reread my chapters after a few weeks or so. I apologize for chapter two. I guess there was something wrong with my saving on the comp, or my fingers were not reacting. Gomen nasai. I am going to say no to a Beta reader for now, until I get the hang of my own writing. I want to try to fix my mistakes myself…but once I change my mind, I'll email you. Though, thanks a lot for your compliments.

- - -

Ryuki: Well…that was a chapter…it sucks, but it was a chapter. You guys are being way too nice to me. Well, I hope I get slightly better in the next chapter and not make too much grammar mistakes. If my description of the Digimon Card game is wrong, I apologize. I have never played it in my life, but I sort of know how to play it. SORT OF. So, that's that. Ja.


	4. Fixing The Accident

Chapter 4

* * *

"When should we dispose of the royal slayer's little...friend, my brother?"

A pale-blond haired girl said in a voice that was unlike hers. Her voice was dark, scratchy and in some way, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. It was obvious that she was not herself. She spoke to a boy around the same age as her, and had blue hair.

"I say soon, before he gives the great slayer advice or help of any kind." The boy replied in the same kind of voice. The quality of air around him gave a strong stench of hate as he talked about the 'slayer'.

"Ai, brother. We must not let them escape from our grasp, when they are already in the palm of our hands." The girl gave a low growl and nodded slowly. Her eyes were so dark, it looked as if it sucked in light, like a black hole. Her skin, if you felt it, was as cold as the shadows of space.

"There is one problem. They know of us being shadows manipulating their friends." The blue-haired boy now seemed as if he was glowing black. "We must be extra careful not to be caught." He looked at the girl sternly. "Or we will fail and the realm of the shadow will lose more of its people."

The girl silently agreed. She closed her eyes, as did the boy, and their dark aura faded away. They seemed like normal teenage kids, except with a bigger vocabulary than they should and a hell of an attitude. Literally. The two stepped out of the dark alley, swung on their school bags and walked to school.

---

"Please do not tell me that none of you know what is the square root of 3905.83333 after we divide it by 0.73854." Miss Kamiya said vainly as she scanned the classroom with pride. She was superior to them, and she made sure they knew that. "Well, I guess all of you didn't have enough homework…such pity…I thought that the 25 pages of math would be enough…" She shook her head as she erased the question on the board and put on numbers of pages the class needed to do.

"Do all these pages on the board, I expect it done before the end of this period. It is only 18 pages; I expect it will be easy work. The whole class has learned of the-"

Just then, the door swung open noisily. Alice and Henry barged in without a word. They handed 2 late slips to the teacher and marched to their desks.

"Excuse me, Alice and Henry. One does not barge in and disturb the class without an apology." Miss Kamiya frowned.

"Gomen nasai sensei." Alice said quietly in a voice unlike hers. Her eyes bore no emotions and there were no shine in the blue.

"Gomen, sensei." Henry said coldly. His skin was pale and lifeless.

The teacher, however, did not notice any of the unusual behaviors caused by the two students. She simply told them to sit down and turn to page 295.

"Do you see that?" Ryo muttered under his breath to Rika, who replied with a 'yeah'. Ryo was worried that the two would come for him first. Without him, the slayer is more vulnerable. She did not master her power's full potential yet, so she is still an apprentice at her magic. Ryo, on the other hand, remembered and discovered long ago and now has enough experience to take on a shadow controlled person.

Rika, on the other hand, was not worried at all. It was hardly likely for them to attack Rika and Ryo when there are lots of people around. They would either be stopped or noticed and become conspicuous. However, they didn't care what happens to Alice and Henry, so perhaps they might risk it and jump into a river or something. Rika shuddered; she could not lose her friends to a shadow. No way in hell.

Time passed as the class scribbled away in silence. The only sounds heard were the scribbling of pencils, rustle of paper, breathing of students and a whisper here and there, causing the teacher to shush them loudly. Then, the bell startled everyone by giving a loud ring that cut through the thick, boring silence.

Miss Kamiya stood up. "Alright, whoever did not finish can have what they have left for homework. Everyone, the actual homework will be the 14 pages after what you were supposed to do in this period. Write it down or mark your homework, I will not put up with not finishing homework. You have many hours at home, USE IT. Now, you are dismissed."

Silently cheering, Rika packed up her stuff, wrote down her homework and picked up her books for the next lesson. She then walked out the door, down the hallway into a room on the other side of the hall. The, Ryo caught up.

"I am starting to really hate our teacher." Ryo grumbled as he fumbled with his books.

"I always hated our teacher…" Rika replied.

"Yeah, but still…she looks so nice and sweet…who knew that she would give out so much work?" Ryo sighed and tucked a book that was slipping back into his arms.

"Sure. Whatever."

"Anyways…about Alice and Henry…" Ryo's eyes darkened.

Rika frowned. "Should we worry about them? They haven't been doing anything suspicious yet…" She shrugged.

"Yet." Ryo reminded her as he flashed his trademark smile. "Its ok, everyone forgets sometimes."

Rika scowled and punched his arm.

They walked into their class. There was 5 minutes before the teacher comes, so the class broke into a cluster of different conversations. The most noticeable was the high-pitched giggles and shrill whining about boys and make up from the girly girls, such as Jeri and Nikki. Then, came the roaring and cheering of the Digimon freaks, which Takato, Kazu, Kenta and co. were part of.

Ryo plopped down beside Rika. She was about to object, when the teacher walked in. "Settle down, class." He said in a deep and almost scary voice. "Today, we review the motions of the world and how they move. There are 4 types of motion, which all motion fall into. Can anyone give me an example?"

A few people raised their hands.

"Yes Nikki."

A girl with pigtails stood up. "Linear, when something moves in a straight line."

"Well said. Alice?"

Alice stood up; her eyes were dark and devilish. Her skin remained pale and her voice was low and quiet.

"Circular, when something moves in a curve, yet it does not have a center point."

The teacher lowered his glasses and looked at Henry. "Alice, are you alright?" He asked as he took notice of Alice's dull complexion and unusual attitude.

"Yes sir."

The teacher frowned. "Why don't you take a friend and get a drink, or splash your face with water or something. You look kind of sick. I'm not quite a doctor…why don't you go see the school nurse?"

"Ok, thank you." Alice whispered. Her piercing glare fell on Rika as she motioned the chestnut-haired girl to come with her. Rika was surprised, but figured it must be part of the act of not being strangely unusual.

"Be very careful, and keep your eyes on her all the time. Don't let her out of your site, or she will do something to harm you." Ryo hissed at her before she got out. Rika frowned, nodded, stood up and left with her.

After walking in silence down the hallway, Alice smirked. "I suppose you know about me?"

Rika's frown deepened. "About you?" She lied, trying to pretend she didn't know anything about the shadow slipping into her.

"Don't play dumb, you fool…" Alice snarled as she took hold of Rika's collar. Her now unusually long nails were cold and sharp against Rika's neck. Just then, a teacher walked by.

"Alice McCoy, what on Earth are you doing?" Miss Kamiya cried as she saw Alice and Rika in that position. Alice let Rika go right away.

"Oh, Miss Kamiya. I was just trying to kill Rika for being such a hater of what I am and what happened to me. I am planning to dig my claw into her flesh and take her apart." Alice said truthfully. "Did you know I am also a deadly thing inside and I have the capability of killing mortals on will? I can also take control of them too."

Rika looked, eyes wide with disbelief, at Miss Kamiya's response.

She laughed.

"Oh, Alice, you imagination never cease to amaze me. Well, good day." She walked off.

After she was out of sight, Alice turned back to Rika. "I guess the truth is always good, isn't it?" She grinned menacingly, showing pointy fangs and hissing.

"Alice, nurse's office…there is something wrong with you. You might need to go to a doctor, or even a psychiatrist." Rika nodded with fake seriousness.

Alice growled as she pulled Rika into the girl's washroom. She made sure no one was inside. Then, she took hold of Rika's neck with her icy fingers that were choking Rika and almost stopping her breathing. Rika gasped for air. She growled and launched a light spell, but the Shadow in Alice just laughed.

"Remember, I am Alice now. I am no longer disturbed by sunlight. You will have to kill me to live, Slayer."

Rika winced. _I can't kill Alice; she is my best friend. She's always been there for me. Would I rather die? Yes, at least I could be reborn into another. Alice…she will die and go to heaven. I have lived longer and been through more…she deserves to be living…_

The shadow tightened her grip. "You little twit, weak with emotions. You think you killed all our kind, but you didn't. Some of us survived that fight and the last attack, just as you did. We are here for revenge, and if I have to kill you here in this pathetic washroom, I will. Or should I say, Alice will." Alice, or the shadow, crackled evilly. She flexed her claws and smirked. Her cool blue eyes bore a heated and unusual glint of red. "I will avenge my people once and for all. Hear me? I will kill you and avenge my ancestors. There will be your blood on your friend's hands…" Rika choked, there were barely enough air in her to let her think straight.

She leaned closer and hissed, "Now, Shine …Die, Slayer… "

In a flash, Alice's, or the shadow's hand, dove towards Rika's stomach. A glint of light on Alice's nails were the last thing Rika saw before she closed her eyes and expected to feel the blinding pain in her stomach and the blackness of death.

However, it did not come.

Wait: there was something else. Rika had seen someone at the door…

Rika opened her eyes, there was Ryo, and his hand had a tight grip on Alice's to make sure she could not kill Rika. Rika, seeing the chance, closed her eyes and kicked Alice.

_Sorry Alice…_ Rika apologized silently. _I don't want you to live and be in control of a shadow…it is even worse than being dead…I'll make sure you are free._

Rika closed her eyes and her mind flew open to search for a stunning spell. She found one that was not to bad and cast it on Alice. Blue lightning sprouted from Rika's fingers and they went into Alice. In a moment, Alice fell to the ground, numb and stunned. Ryo, who was trying to keep her under control, sighed.

"Now, we hide her until after school."

"Or we skip school…" Rika suggested. "Saving this city and probably the world from shadows is much more important that the kinds movement. Besides, I learned that 5920 years ago, at my old school."

"What about Henry?" Ryo frowned and thought about the other one infected by the Shadow.

Rika bit her lips. "How about I stay in school, and you can lock Alice in a cupboard somewhere in your house."

Ryo snorted. "And let you get killed?"

"It's better than risking Alice waking up." Rika said shortly.

"But I can go and say that you went home with Alice. While you cannot say I went home with Alice, right? I'm a guy. I'm barely her friend." Ryo pointed out.

Rika thought. "Alright. I'll go. Give me your keys, I'll be back in…5 minutes." She surrendered.

"Great. Do you realize we are in the girl's washroom?" Ryo said as he flushed slightly. "We better get out before break."

Rika nodded and stretched her wings out of the invisibility spell. Now, all who has magic will be able to see them. She put a special floating spell on Alice and took her into the air as she flew out of the window of the washroom.

Ryo hastily ran out the door and went back into the class.

"Oh hello Ryo. Where are Rika and Alice? They've been gone pretty long too. Have you seen them on the way?" The teacher, Mr. DeFazio asked.

"Alice went home because she felt sick, and Rika accompanied her. Rika said she would be back in a while, sir." Ryo answered as he returned to his seat.

"Poor girl." Mr. DeFazio shook his head and glanced at the clock. "Oh, look at the time. 5 minutes before break. Well, why don't we pack up and if there are a few minutes left, you can go early," he sad to the class with a smile. The class all scrambled to get their stuff. Chairs shuffled and books hit against the table as everyone neatly placed the inside their bags after matching them all up on one end. Soon, the whole class said a 'sayonara' and went out the door of the class.

---

Henry's low growl tickled his throat as he passed Ryo, who was still gathering his books. Could Alice be taking Rika into a trap? Or did the two defeat her already? Before anything could be done, he would have to make sure Ryo is defeated. If Alice isn't dead, which was highly likely, knowing Rika's personalities, there were still a chance. He could kill Ryo, then go after Rika himself. He would have to awake Alice as well, but that wouldn't be a problem.

He waited outside until Ryo stepped out of the class. He then started to follow him.

"Hello, slayer." Henry said in a snake-like voice. His pupils turned to slits as he growled again. "Tell me, where have the other slayer taken my brother?"

"Sorry, no can't do." Ryo said in a false cheery voice.

"Tell me or else!" Henry snarled in a voice that was unlike his in so many ways. Ryo shook his head and stopped.

"If the else is me being dead, I have no problem with that." Ryo shrugged and started to walk off again.

Henry's nails slowly started to extend into claws. "I am going to kill you, since you don't seem to mind that much."

"There are people around, so I can't fight you back. Do you not have any pride?" Ryo growled back at the Chinese boy, whose eyes narrowed.

"Are you saying I have no pride?"

"I don't know, am I?"

"I have more pride than you, boy. Don't dare challenge my being you little filthy slayer."

Ryo laughed at the comment, mocking the possessed Henry. "You call me filthy? You have pride? That's why you were planning to kill me in somewhere where I could not defend myself?"

"Even if you could, you wouldn't be able to." Henry snarled.

"I might want to challenge that statement." Ryo smirked. "Let's fight somewhere where I could defend myself."

Henry's eyebrow twitched. "I must follow my orders and kill you at anywhere I could…but I will meet you else where, for I do have pride. Rooftop, after lunch period."

Ryo smirked and stretched his wings, which were invisible to the naked eye and the eyes that were 'dressed' of humans. "You're on."

"One last thing…" Henry growled. "That girl, the other slayer, Rika, cannot interrupt."

Ryo frowned; Rika would want to join the fight. She would be angry, but this is his chance to prove himself of a slayer. "Alright." Ryo nodded to Henry.

---

Rika gritted her teeth as her spell almost disabled a few times during flight. She was, in the end, successful in getting Alice to Ryo's house and locking her with a sleeping spell. Now she was on her way back to school, the hell of the 21st century. She approached the school building as her stomach started to complain. It was, after all, a pretty decent time to eat now. She sighed and started to dive, just when she saw specks on the roof. To be specific, a speck with white things behind it and another speck glowing with purple. Her eyes widened.

_Ryo is fighting Henry! _Rika's mind slapped her mentally as she rose from her dive and onto the rooftop of the school. Gently, she touched down upon the edge, her feet shuffled for a good grip on the slippery surface of the edge of the roof. She walked over to the two.

"Ah, speaking of the Devil." Henry's eyes shone menacingly. His smirk widened.

"Leave Rika out of this. We made a deal." Ryo growled to him.

"Yes, and part of it was for Rika not to interfere." Henry, or rather the shadow in him, snarled and a glint of red showed on his claws. Rika glanced back and forth at Ryo and Henry.

"Ryo…what, in the name of the Slayers, are you doing?" Rika said with an irritated voice. "Didn't we agree not to fight them alone? Plus, do you really trust this thing inside Henry?"

Ryo gritted his teeth. "Rika, I have to try something."

Rika rolled her eyes. "I'd suggest that killing yourself not be one of them, but obviously, I was too late."

Pulling out his sword, Ryo pointed it at Henry. He was about to charge forward when Rika yelled stop. Ryo frowned and turned to the girl.

"No…Ryo…" Rika shook her head and her eyes were closed. "Don't use your sword…you'll…kill him!" Rika said in a furious voice as she opened her eyes. "Can't you see? This is what the Shadow wanted. It wanted us to hurt our friends so we'd become weak."

"Yeah, but if I don't attack Henry, I'd be saying to the shadow 'sayonara, Shadow, you can go free'!" Ryo insisted.

Rika shook her head. "Try stunning him! Just don't hurt him, it's not worth it!"

Hurt formed in Ryo's eyes, but it was soon replaced with anger. "Rika, I'll try not to hurt him. But I am not going to hurt him just because you're afraid your boy friend's going to get hurt! I don't give a fuck if you don't want him hurt, but I have more pride than that! If you want to protect him so much, you can just go stand in front of him now. If you do, I will go through you do get to it. The world depends on this! The world, that is more important than this bastard here!"

Falling on her knees, Rika looked at Ryo with disbelief. She slowly shook her head. Not moving, Rika kept her eyes on the brown haired boy. Her eyes hollowed. "Ryo…"

Ignoring Rika, even though it pained him, the slayer turned towards Henry. "You're going down."

The shadow within Henry smirked at Rika. "Thank you, Rika, for taking down Ryo already. You make life so much easier for me." Then, turning to Ryo, it raised its clawed hand. "Bring it."

Then, in a sudden moment, the two flew towards each other. A bright light filled the sky for a brief moment as the two threw their attacks at each other. Ryo, as the Shadow in Henry said, was weakened. He had put away his sword, hoping it would make things better. It didn't, it only made things worse for him. Ryo glanced back at Rika, who hadn't moved since, and then a sudden flash of pain in his right arm shocked him. Ryo winced and clutched his right arm, kicking Henry back so it would give him a moment of time to take in what happened. He took his left hand away and saw that it was stained with blood.

Angry, Ryo launched at Henry one more time, sending a punch and blades of ki, which Henry and the Shadow dodged easily. Eyes narrowing, Ryo blasted a solid ki blast and it skinned Henry. Part of Henry's leg was burned by the attack, which he winced and ignored. Ryo frowned and was about to charge again when suddenly Henry disappeared, causing the brown haired boy's eyes widened in shock.

He knows that technique. He moved…so fast…it must have been the Shadow's technique. I've never heard of it before…

Scanning the 'arena', there wasn't a sign that Henry was anywhere. Then, suddenly, an explosion of pain grasped Ryo's right arm. Wincing, Ryo turned around in a fast speed and delivered a ki blast, which sent Henry flying over the edge of the school, buying Ryo some time. Ryo looked at his arm and found a long thorn-like knife embedded in it. Warm, wet blood poured down and dripped off of Ryo's arm. Ryo closed his eyes and pulled the knife out, causing more pain to the already 'dying' arm. The brown haired boy sent a minor freezing spell to his arms to stop both the pain and the blood. Before Ryo could muster a simple healing spell, Henry floated over the edge, a small streak of blood on the left side of his mouth.

"Nice try, Ryo, I guess you forgot I can levitate." Henry said in a voice that was unlike him.

"I didn't forget." Ryo said through gritted teeth. "Damn it!" He roared as he took the knife that was stabbed into his arm and charged at Henry. Ryo gave a couple of wild swings at Henry, which he all dodged. Then, out of nowhere, Ryo disappeared and reappeared immediately behind Henry. He dropped the sword and gave a big ki blast that burnt the skin of Henry's stomach, causing him to double over in pain. "You're luck I didn't choose to let the ki blast go through your stomach." Ryo snarled as he pulled Henry's hair so that he was facing forwards and his head was up. Taking his sword once again, Ryo put it to Henry's neck.

"Go ahead." The Shadow said in Henry's voice. "Kill me, its for the – ugh – best." Henry groaned of pain.

For a brief second, Ryo loosened his grip on Henry, giving him the chance to escape from the near-death position.

"Yes…" the Shadow hissed, not in its own voice. "Kill me, I DARE you."

Ryo's eyebrow twitched as his mind worked.

Seeing Ryo was coming up with a new strategy, the Shadow within Henry growled and rushed up to the brown haired boy to deliver a punch. Right when Henry was about to reach him, Ryo disappeared. The Shadow, thinking Ryo was about to use the same trick, turned around and sent a ki blast. But there wasn't anyone there. It turned out that Ryo had slipped on an invisibility shield for 4 seconds. Henry, who just realized he was concentrating for the spell and not for a plan, was about to turn around. That's when Ryo knocked him in the back of the head, causing him to go unconscious. The limp body fell first onto its knees, then onto the concrete face first.

Ryo winced.

Then, a black wisp of smoke-like shadowy thing came out of Henry's body. The Shadow snarled at Ryo. "I will get you one day!" It yelled and tried to escape. But Ryo grabbed his sword and sliced it through the air, where the Shadow was. The Shadow released a chocking sound and after a moment, it started to evaporate. Then, another moment later, it was engulfed in a bright light and destroyed.

A small cough came from Henry, who was lying on the ground, conscious. Surprised, Ryo paused time for the Chinese boy. Then, he healed the damage he did. Slowly and carefully, Ryo erased Henry's memory and replaced it with normal things. Then, Ryo unfroze the time around Henry, who was now unconscious because of the sudden change of memory and health.

Turning around, Ryo looked right into Rika's eyes. A moment later, he found himself almost being chocked to death…

…By a hug…

Then, he was released before he got a chance to hug back.

"Ryo, I'm sorry…I should have let you fight…you always knew how to take care of things…" Rika muttered.

"I'm sorry too…" Ryo sighed. "I shouldn't have said those things…"

"Well, damn right you shouldn't have!" Rika said, suddenly furious. Ryo looked at her with surprise and disbelief.

Suddenly, Rika's frown turned into smiled. "I forgive you." Then, her smile disappeared. "We need to get to Alice now. My spell might not last that long…"

Ryo, who was serious as well, nodded. "Alright."

---

Thank you to all who reviewed for the previous chapter:

Ao-Senshi: Yeah, I know the characters are quite OOC. Well, I can't help it, I don't quite own the show, and so I can't decide how they act and stuff. But thank you for saying my story is taking shape and stuff. Thanks for the review too!

alexian-goddess: lolz, I'm so glad that you're enjoying my fic. Well, most of the confusing stuff are kind of part of the, -koff-, 'mystery' of this fic. It leaves you thinking about it and stuff… :) anyways, well, you get the plot already perfectly well. Yeah, the plot…lets just say, I had a crazy day and came up with something crazy. Please don't rip out your hair, it does hurt…- -;; ignore me

Dragons star: -bows- thank you for your compliment. I read a little description of the came a few years ago, but I can't find the site anymore. So I kind of had to trust my crappy memory, ah well. Thanks again.

Luzr-Gurl13: Hmm…lets just say the excitement kicks up a notch in this chapter. Thanks for the compliment!

Blast-Hornet: Thank you for your compliment. You've waited, and here it is. :-)

Forlorn Melody: Hmm, I'll take what you said into consideration when I start the next chapter and stuff. Yeah, the plots pretty original…it came from my crazy brain…XD anyways, thanks for reviewing!

---

Ryuki: Yeah, another chapter. This is the longest one I've written, I think. Anyways, don't tell me, I know, Rika is major OOC in the end. Ah well, don't blame me. I would have had Alice do it, but she's kind of tied up at the moment…yeah…


	5. Back To Normal

Chapter 5

A/N: In case some of you didn't know, ki means energy in Japanese. I could go into a whole lesson on its history, but I'm not going to.

* * *

In a certain attic in a certain house, a sound indicated that something broke, or were pulled apart. On the wooden floor were scraps of a rope that used to be pretty strong, but now nothing but scraps of useless waste. Cracks could be heard, as if someone stretched after staying in the same position for a long time. Suddenly, the temperature of the room dropped low and the lighting darkened.

A certain teen with pale blond hair and icy blue eyes stood up slowly from the ground. She tipped her head back, cracking it with a smile of satisfaction. Looking around, the teen spotted tools of a cleansing ritual.

_So…this is what they were going to perform on me if I didn't wake up earlier…_

The pale teen growled as her eyes narrowed with anger. _Those slayers…those despicable, ignorant…_

Her trail of thoughts ended as a sudden fidget of the doors made her senses more acute. She turned to see the knob on the door starting to turn. The teen's eyes widened, for she was unable to perform an invisibility spell in this body. Growling, the teen dropped to the ground behind a box filled with photos and other albums of unknown stuff. The door swung open and in came a lady with brown hair. She looked around suspiciously.

"Ryo?" The woman called out quietly and looked around. She shook her head. "It must have been a mistake." She whispered to herself and started to walk out. Just as the pale blond teen was about to come out again, the woman came in again, looking around, double-checking. This human was unusually acute for a human, but hen gain, she was the 'mother' of one of the slayers. Then, for good, the woman closed the door to the attic and footsteps could be heard of her going downstairs.

Yet the teen remained hidden for another good 10 minutes or so before coming out cautiously. When she did, though, she smiled menacingly.

"They'll be here soon…I can sense it…and when they do come…" The teen smirked. "Let the fun begin."

---

"Are you sure we should be skipping school?" Rika asked the dark-haired boy flying parallel to her. "I mean, if my mother calls the school, and I'm not there, I will be dead. I will probably die a more horrible death than I would if I battled a Shadow and lost."

"Don't worry about it. I'd cast a time spell on the whole school, or you mum, but there's no need to waste energy." Giving one of his trademark smiles, Ryo's wings flapped, blasting a wave of air in Rika's face without quite meaning to. Rika scowled, but shrugged it off.

"Well, if they call…I want to have an excuse of some kind." Rika crossed her arms.

"How about-"

The brunette didn't have a chance to finish his sentence when a helicopter nearly sliced him and Rika in half. They dodged the machine barely and soared over a tall building that was also threatening to kill them, but from below instead.

"Oh…crap…" Rika's eyes widened. "We forgot to hide our heat, form and sound!"

"So…?"

"That helicopter could have had a radar on it, or something. Wouldn't they get curious after scanning in two bodies with wings in midair?"

"Well…even if they could scan us in, they've no proof. Plus, they can't see through our shield. "

Rika raised an eyebrow. "Technology has changed. Don't forget the fact that any breed of wolves may see us, and that includes some types of dogs, and the police have lots of dogs."

"Oh yeah, and all of a sudden humans can understand dog." Ryo remarked sarcastically.

"Still…it would be safer."

Shaking his head, Ryo cast a solid spell that hid their existence completely. Picking up speed and flapping their wings, the two soared towards Ryo's house.

---

Henry groaned as he put the ice the nurse gave him on his head. The migraine he had was indescribable. If the rest of the day didn't kill him, and his head was still aching, Henry might as well as kill himself. The blue-haired boy took the ice off and rubbed his forehead. What happened?

A sudden itching of his back caused him to wince. He reached back to scratch the spot. The moment his hand touched his back, he cried out as a sharp pain spread up his spine. Gently, he felt a bump on his back.

_Is that…a bruise on my back? How'd I get one?_ Henry questioned himself as he shrugged uncomfortably as the itch continued to bother him, along with the pain.

---

In the clawed hands of Alice was a ball of energy. The pale-haired teen smirked as she threw the ball up and caught it again. Repeating the same action, she slowly and gracefully stepped onto the edge of the window of the attic. She stood as far as she could go without falling. Then, she closed her eyes and concentrated as a coat of shadows slipped around her. It surrounded her being as she started to levitate slight.

Alice's eyes suddenly opened as she looked into the sky. Her vision zoomed and she saw two small black dots flying towards her. Her smirk widened as she took a step into the air. She did not drop, for the energy around her kept her in the air. It took little effort to levitate, and levitating is better than walking, especially when one is going to fight against a winged being of any kind.

She prepared to do that as the energy sphere in her hands grew larger and brighter…

---

Rika squinted as they flew into the light of the sun. Small blue spots appeared in her vision. Rika growled. "Why is there no spell to cure these stupid blind spots?"

"I don't know." Ryo replied.

"It was a rhetorical question." Rika grumbled.

Looking sideways, Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so bitter?"

"I am not." Rika said loudly.

"Sure." Ryo nodded slowly, not believing.

Rika looked down at the small dots on the street that were people. "How would you feel if you had to cast spells on your best friend? I have a sick feeling about this. We might have left too late. My spell is too weak, it won't hold her for long." Rika said softly.

"Even if she escapes…" Ryo kept his eyes on Rika. "We can take care of her. We'll just stun her and perform the ritual quickly."

"I hope we can…" Rika sighed. She looked forwards at Ryo's house, which wasn't so far away. In less than a minute they would arrive. Then, suddenly, Rika's violet eyes squinted at the top window of the house. The spots in her vision made her dizzy as she tried to see what it was. She turned to see Ryo wasn't paying attention. Rika closed her eyes, waited a few seconds, and then opened them again. There was no doubt in what she saw.

"Ryo." Rika said in a low tone of voice as she stopped going forwards and started to hover in midair. "My spell…wore off…"

"Huh?" Ryo looked back, for he had flew forwards, not realizing Rika stopped. He flew back to where Rika hovered. "What?"

Rika pointed a finger to where a dark shadowy sphere was floating in midair. Ryo snapped his fingers, taking off the shielding spell, then turned to see what Rika meant. Then, before he could see properly, a sphere of crackling energy flew towards them. Rika froze, she was right in the path of the energy ball. Ryo, growled as he took in what was happening. He quickly shouted a time freezing spell and froze the energy ball. Then, as Rika flew out of the way, the spell disappeared and the energy sphere flew out into the air. Rika closed her eyes and sent her own ki blast into the energy ball so that it would explode in midair and not hit any innocent people.

Sighing with relief as the plan worked, Rika smiled as she looked at Ryo, who closed his eyes and nodded back with a smile. Then, a sudden clapping from above startled both Rika and Ryo. They looked up to see Alice hovering. Ryo's eyes narrowed with hate at the dark glowing that surrounded it around her. Alice's hollow eyes gave a frightening stare at both Slayers.

"Well done," Alice said in her voice, but it was in unison with another. The 'another' was a deep snarl from, Rika guessed, the Shadow.

"Why thank you." Ryo replied coldly, returning the innocent sarcasm given to him by the Shadow within Alice.

"You're welcome." Alice replied with a smug smirk as she floated down so she was in the same level as the two. "Now, why on Earth would you two tie poor me up with a rope and leave me alone on the floor of a stranger's house?" She asked with a mocking pout.

"Poor you? That'll be the day." Ryo sneered. A sound of metal against metal was heard as Ryo pulled out his sword from its sheath. "Here's some news – you were supposed to stay on the ground and tied up."

"I always say, rules are meant to be broken." Alice gave a cruel smirk as she stretched out both her hands. Two orbs of blue glowed in both her hands. They grew larger until they were slightly bigger than her hands. "Here's a small prize for listening so nicely to my whines." She taunted and raised her hands. She gave a cry and the two orbs shot out, aiming both Ryo and Rika.

Ryo raised two fingers and closed his eyes. The attack disappeared as soon as it hit his fingers.

Rika raised a hand and stopped it in midair. Then she hurled it back at Alice, who simply stood still as a glassy shield formed around her, destroying the orb.

Smiling with amusement, Alice waved as the shield around her disappeared. "That was fun. What do you say we stop playing?"

Without a word, Alice immediately started to fire a wave of ki blasts at both slayers. Rika raised a shield while Ryo used his sword to fend off the attacks. Slowly, Rika approached the firing Alice.

Seeing this, Alice started to direct her attack more on Rika. Taking the chance, Ryo went in and on his fingertips was a stunning spell. Expecting this, Alice sent an enormous ki blast his way, catching him off guard. The bright flash hit its target, Ryo, with surprising accuracy. Ryo grunted with pain as the ki started to stab at his flesh. Taking the chance, Alice sent a blade of ki to him, which split into smaller blades, which created, cuts and gashes on Ryo's body. Blood dripped and soaked Ryo's shirt and pants.

"Ryo!" Rika flew over to where the Slayer barely hovered. "Are you alright?"

Ryo grunted. "Yeah, I'll live for now." His hands covered an especially big gash to ease the bleeding. Because of the sudden pain, Ryo dropped his sword, causing a clank as it fell onto the concrete ground way below. Rika made sure Ryo was stable before swooping down to retrieve the sword. She came up again and slipped it into his sheath as Ryo fell into a state of unconsciousness. Then, the violet-eyed girl looked towards Alice.

"You took over my friends." She said in an unusually quiet voice. "You hurt my friends. What can I do to repay you?"

"You can just stand there while I tear you apart." Alice replied.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Rika commented. "Sorry.

"Who said you had a say?" Alice growled as she flexed her fingers, flying towards Rika.

Rika smirked and dodged out of the way. An angry Shadow was better than a normal Shadow, for they use their ki more freely, causing them to weaken. Alice growled as she stopped herself and steered towards where Rika was. It was unquestionable that Rika had more speed, but speed in this round wasn't going to help. Since Rika wasn't going out to kill Alice, yet the shadow within Alice wanted Rika dead, so it has the slight advantage of not holding back. Plus the fact that the Shadow didn't care about nearby buildings and people underneath, it can attack more freely.

Shaking her head, Rika closed her eyes then reopened them. Thinking about the shadow's advantage won't help her. Since Alice was going to fight with spells and ki blasts, she would as well. _If you can't beat em, join em._ Rika thought as she quietly muttered a stunning spell. She molded the spell around her hands and charged towards Alice. Levitating out of the way, the shadow within Alice chuckled. "You think you can catch me this way?"

Cocking an eyebrow, Rika smirked challengingly. "Would you rather have me not go easy on you?"

"The question is, would you rather have ME go easy on YOU." Alice growled as she sent another wave of spells towards Rika, who raised both her hands and muttered a counter spell. The two blasts hit in midair and exploded.

Rika drew out her sword and raised it into the air. Then, in a flash, the sky turned dark and rain clouds gathered out from nowhere. Thunder roared and rain started to pour. The Shadow within Alice glared at the water, disgusted. It raised a shield to protect itself from the falling rain. Seeing the advantage of the Shadow wasting more power, Rika smirked. Then, a bright flash crackled as lightning branched down towards Alice. Wide-eyed at the sudden surprise attack, the Shadow barely had enough time to steer Alice's body away before the lightning hit.

Growling, the Alice raised both her hands to raise blue flames under Rika. Confused, Rika looked down to her feet to see hot blue flames licking her toes and shin. Then pain spread up her legs. Instead of being burnt, Rika's legs were becoming colder and colder to the state that it burned. Rika winced as the pain of cold crashing against heat swam through her blood stream. Rika attempted to fly away or move, but she was paralyzed by a spell Alice attached to Rika. Then, out of nowhere, Rika's skin started to tear and blue liquid dripped out of it, followed by the crimson blood. Crying out, Rika fell onto her knees in midair. Slowly, a soft blue glow formed around the chestnut-haired girl.

Rika bowed her head as her bangs created shadows over her eyes. It seemed as if Rika was unconscious. Then, if possible, the sky got darker and the lightning crackling became more frequent. Then, without a warning or a spell, the blue flames around Rika's feet died out.

Alice blinked, surprised. This never happens.

The blue glow got more bright and hard as it started to grow. Rika's wings folded, as it was no longer needed, for the glow kept Rika in the air. Then, a bolt of lightning fell upon Rika, surrounding her in another layer of light. Suddenly looking up, Rika's eyes glowed black. Lightning danced upon Rika's skin. Slowly, Rika's wings reopened as she approached Alice, whose eyes widened in sudden fear of the Slayer. The spell she cast was supposed to kill anything that stays in it long enough, and Rika was in it overtime because of the paralyzing spell.

_How is it that she is able to survive the attack?_ Alice took a step back as Rika came closer.

Rika stopped, as she was a step away from the Shadow possessed Alice. Raising a hand to Alice's forehead, Rika closed her eyes. She started to mutter a death spell. The Shadow in Alice started to shake as it slowly forced itself out of her, flying up out of the body in a stream of blackness. Rika smirked, expecting this to happen, she quickly changed the death spell's last word so that it became a powerful sun spell. Bright rays folded itself around the Shadow that just escaped and was about to head toward Ryo to take control of him. The rays folded into a sphere as it slowly grew bigger and a few moments later, it exploded into a million specks of glitter and showered itself upon the people below.

Panting, Rika reopened her wings and the blue glow around her faded. Then, she turned, as Alice was about to drop into her death. She swooped down to catch the pale-haired girl. Slowly, she flew towards where Ryo was.

Rika lay her down beside Ryo, who was woken up by the final attack. The rain clouds started to clear up slowly, revealing an impatient sun, shining its bright rays once again.

Slowly Rika placed her hands over Ryo. A soft blue glow appeared as Ryo's cuts started to heal. She then healed Alice. By then she had fainted and required Ryo to heal her back.

They slowly carried the still unconscious Alice into Ryo's house. Ryo went and got salt water, where he and Rika dipped their fingers in to refresh their power. Then, making sure Alice would remain unconscious, they flew towards school, where there was still nearly two periods left.

---

"Ah, Miss Nonaka, Miss McCoy and Mr. Akiyama, you're all back." The teacher of that period, Mrs. Perrino, smiled at the three. "Is Alice feeling better?" She looked at Alice, who had woken up right after the landing. Her memory was erased and replaced.

"Yes, Mrs." Alice replied, smiling back.

"Great. Why don't you take a seat? We just finished reviewing stuff that you probably all know." Mrs. Perrino indicated towards their seat, where they gladly sat down.

"Now…there are different types of painting…"

---

"Yeah, that was fun. Well, I guess we'll call it a night." Henry said to the other 7 as he scratched his head. "We've got all those page of homework from Miss Kamiya, remember? And we have to finish the rough from Miss Perrino, and the graph from Mr. DeFazio, and etc."

Kazu sighed. "I hate it when we have homework."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "We have homework every day we're in school."

"Yeah, I hate school." Kazu shrugged.

"Even I get bored of homework…" Kenta sighed.

"What do you mean, even you?" Takato asked suspiciously.

Jeri suddenly smiled with an evil glint in her eyes: a rare sight. "That means…well, I guess the new rumor in the school will be Kenta enjoys homework."

"I can't wait to see Miss Kamiya's expression when she hears that one of her students like homework." Ryo joked. "Isn't she out to torture us?"

"Well yeah…" Rika tapped her chin in thought. "We shouldn't spread the rumor. Miss Kamiya might give us more work."

All 8 of them shuddered.

"Anyways…I'm gonna go home before my mother flips." Takato said with a smile. "See ya!"

"My step mother is being a pain as well…" Jeri sighed and shook her head, causing her pigtail to fly around. "So I'm gonna go too. Bye!"

"Oh jeez!" Kazu screamed, almost as if he was dying. "We're gonna miss the playbacks of the Dueling championships!"

"WHAT?" Kenta yelled back, his eyes wide with fear. "Didn't' you set your watch? It was supposed to beep!"

Just then, a beeping came from Kazu's watch.

They all sweat dropped.

"Well, we got to run." Kazu called back as he started to dash towards his house. "JA!"

"Yeah, bye!" Kenta yelled as he and Kazu disappeared.

"That was…sudden…" Ryo concluded after a period of silence.

"That was Kazu and Kenta." Rika reminded.

"Anyways…I've got to go too, you guys. Suzy might tell on me if I'm too late." Henry laughed. "Well, see you tomorrow at school."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go too…I don't want to keep my dad waiting or he might call the police again like last time." Alice smiled at the memory.

"Alright, bye guys." Rika waved.

"Ciao." Ryo raised a hand and smiled.

Then, as soon as the two left, Ryo and Rika looked at each other and smirked.

"Last one to rooftop is a rotten Shadow." Ryo called as he stretched his wings and flew up.

"It's not good to talk about yourself!" Rika called back as she too, stretched her wings.

The two soared up into the fresh air of the night sky where stars winked and the moon released a sheet of silvery light…

---

Thanks to all who reviewed:

Wings Of Reason: I'm glad you think this story is freakin amazing! XD here's the update. Thanks lots for the review.

rufus008: Thanks for your compliment. Yeah, I think I'd go mad if killed off Henry, and so will all the fans out there…- -;; I'd be dead before ya know it. Anyways, here's Rika's fight. It wasn't supposed to be her fight in this chapter, but I squeezed it in my schedule. Sorry it sucked so much, but I promise, the later fights will be better. ;-)

Dragon star: Well, lucky for you, this story is not a mystery. I've never actually read the Sherlock Homes books…I don't even quite know who that person is…I know he's a detective…it is a he, right? -Shrug- I'm not very interested in that…hmm…anyways, thanks for the compliment and the review!

Arabella Silverbell: I'm glad that you like this story. Well, Ryuki RULES so I hope you read more of them. Thanks for the review though.

Forlon Melody: I'm glad you enjoy this story's elements. I'll keep your tip in mind next when I write. Thanks for the compliment.

---

Ryuki: Well, that's another chapter. Sorry about the crappy fight scenes, but I wasn't really in the mood of fight that much. I mean, after sitting at home for a few weeks without going out, you tend to get quite lazy. Anyways…the end is going to be such a surprise! You might kill me, but hey, the prologue will solve it al up.


	6. Nocuous

**Chapter 6**

* * *

A/N: What was everyone doing for the past few days? It seems like only my readers are on vacation…I know its not true, but hey, I got how many reviews for all 4 updated chapters and like, 3 new story? Jeez…people… .

Anyways, I'm still grateful for what I have so far…even though it's like nothing compared to others…hmm…what can I say? I don't write to please anyone but myself. Well, also others who like what I like, but perhaps I should have started with a crowd-pleaser…-sigh-…never going to be a business person, me.

Oh well. Here's Chapter 6.

Ps. Ah, I know Nocuous is an adjective, (or was it an adverb?), it means something like harmful. But that's ok, in this fic, they are names. So, reviewers, kindly not nag upon that subject. ;-) And don't blame me for getting it wrong, I literally flipped to a page in the giant dictionary my dad has, and this word happens to be right where I looked. Coincidence, what luck, it just happened to mean harmful. (It does, right?)

---

"Sword,"

Rika called out and raised her hand. A cool coloured sword materialized out of nowhere. Rika grabbed the handle of the majestic blade and plunged it deeply into a dark figure which was just about to reach her and attack. The sword released a bright silvery light within the Shadow, and it gave a horrible cry of pain, then it evaporated into thin air.

Sighing with relief, Rika smiled. She caused the sword to vanish again and flew in a loop in the sky, then headed to where Ryo was, battling a dark blob himself.

Ryo smirked, and flew sharply to the left, then upwards, dodging a blade of ki. He turned to look at the Shadow, which was now angry. He stuck his tongue out childishly.

"Is this really a way to destroy Shadows, by sticking your tongue out at them? Real mature you are, Akiyama." Rika called as she flew over to where he was and hovered beside him.

"No, it simply pisses this guy off." Ryo explained, and dodged yet another energy blast.

"By acting like yourself, you'll piss off about anyone." Rika shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Ryo gave his trademark grin. "I know, trust me, I _know_."

Giving him a playful shove, Rika flew out of the way of a shadow blast.

"You better kill him soon. He could start possessing people or causing supernatural disasters, and we cannot hide that, no matter how hard we try." Rika frowned.

"Ah, you worry too much. This guy here's a newbie." Ryo circled the shadow, which was now clawing the air trying to catch Ryo, who was now blowing raspberries.

"Ryo..." Rika growled.

"Alright, keep your pants on." Ryo called as he flew towards the Shadow. He raised his hand, murmured a few words and gave a blast of light, which melted the shadow slowly.

"Did you really have to do that?" Rika tapped her arms impatiently. (Her arms are crossed.)

"Yeah, I did…" Ryo replied and without warning, dropped.

Rika swooped down, following him. The two slipped into a dark alley and slipped off their masks that hide them from any human or animals, except wolves, hawks and panthers. As casual as possible, the two walked into the main street and toward their homes.

They came to an intersection.

"Alright, so see you tomorrow?" Ryo called as he headed towards his left.

"Yeah, see you." Rika smiled and walked towards the opposite direction.

---

A sharp rapping on the door woke Rika up.

"Rika, dear, Alice is here."

Rika groggily turned towards her alarm clock. School starts in 5 minutes.

When it finally sank in, Rika jumped up, and got ready in an impossible time. She was just slipping on her sweater when Alice came in her room.

"Hey Rika, wow, I can't believe you weren't awake when I came…" Alice exclaimed as she looked around.

"Yeah…I stayed up pretty late last night." Rika mumbled as she remembered the killing of the Shadows.

"What a coincidence…Ryo did too. He was sleeping when we went to his house to pick him up…took forever to drag him out of bed. Well, 2 minutes, but with Kazu's babbling it seemed like forever." Alice said thoughtfully as she glanced towards the ceiling.

"Yeah, he's annoying. Aright, let's go." Rika announced as she picked up her bag.

They circled towards the kitchen, where Rumiko was sipping coffee.

"Have fun!" She called cheerily.

Outside, Ryo, Takato, Jeri, Kazu, Kenta, Henry and Suzie were waiting silently. They were all either yawning, or falling asleep standing up.

"Hey." Rika said briefly. "We have 5 minutes to get to school."

"Err…Rika…" Jeri piped up. "It's Saturday."

Rika blinked. A light blush crept up her cheeks.

"Rika, you set your alarm hours early so you would get up in the morning, remember?" Alice reminded. "It's actually pretty late now…"

"Oh well, where to?" Henry said suddenly, changing the subject as he noticed Rika's fidgeting.

"…Where can we go?" Takato asked.

"Anywhere with a bench or a chair is fine." Ryo yawned, his eyes drooping. "I need a few hours more of sleep…"

Alice sighed. "Why don't we go get some food to wake you all up?"

And so they did.

It woke them up, alright.

The results were not what Alice liked at all…

"…So I told her to be quiet because everyone knows I don't tell people off for no reason, because I'm really nice, seriously. The rumor was so untrue that it wasn't even funny, I mean, I am NOT like that! But…"

"…the mushrooms slowly crept up; their fangs were so long…it was so scary. The killer mushrooms started to chase me…so I ran, and ran, but I could outrun them, they were so fast, for mushrooms, that is. Not to brag, but I am one of the fastest runners…"

"…do you think the power cards were better? Or should I get more monster cards? Because either way, I have only 50 chance of winning. I mean, all ways, I have 50, unless my deck is really crapped up…then, I'd have less than 50, unless it's with Rika, or you, Ryo…then I'd have zero…but still, I think I should boost my deck by something…I just…Ryo, hey, wake up…oh well…Henry! Yes, so I was thinking…"

Suzie and Jeri were swapping rumours; Kazu was filling Takato with his killer mushroom dreams, and Kenta was nagging Ryo about his Digimon deck. Ryo was still falling asleep and Henry became the substitute for him to take Kenta's babbling. Rika was staring into space, and Alice looked ready to blow.

And before they knew it, an argument had spread and Ryo was getting a headache.

It was typical, for the 9 of them, to be arguing their asses off while not noticing anything at all. So naturally, no one noticed that around them, people were running and screaming hysterically in the opposite direction.

Thankfully, Ryo was a newbie to the 'group', and still had some senses in him.

"Hey, guys…"

"…I TOLD YOU, EATING ANIMALS IS WRONG!"

Ryo blinked, shook his head and tried again. "Hey, guys, am I the only one to-"

"…Shit in my pants every day! I swear! It's so annoying! And my parents actually thought I DID shit in my pants everyday! Who'd believe a 5-year-old? My parent, that's who, I tell you…it's mad!"

Ryo frowned.

"All of you, just…SHUT UP!"

…so they did.

Rika looked around, and frowned. No body, other than them, was around, and if they were, they were either screaming or running in the opposite direction. Pieces of the buildings started to fall.

"What's the matter…? Oh…" Kazu froze as he looked around. He took a step back as the ground under him shook, his eyes widening.

Jeri gave a sharp squeal of fright as she dodged out of the way; a decent sized rock nearly hit her. She snuggled near Takato in fright.

Rika frowned and started to walk backwards, her senses tingling. She sent a demanding glare towards Ryo, who nodded. Ryo turned to the rest of the 7. "Guys: let's run." He stated simply.

That was all they needed – Takato, Jeri, Kenta, Kazu, Suzie, Alice, Henry, Ryo and Rika bolted. As they ran, Rika and Ryo slipped away and launched into the sky, their invisibility shield on.

"That's not possible – they can't do any direct damage to buildings physically! They're SHADOWS for god's sake!" Rika growled as she stretched her wings furiously and gave a flap, causing it hard for Ryo to catch up with her. "I mean – they can only destroy solid stuff using ki!"

"Rika, don't you remember? There are more than Shadows in the other life." Ryo said calmly as he too soared towards the source of the problem. She turned to him, frowning. He nodded slowly and reached out and touched her forehead as well as his own…

---

_"Ugh!" I gave a loud grunt as a large force threw me back. I felt my wings being crushed behind me. The pain stung my back. I felt a warm trickle down my back. My head bumped against something sharp. It was a rock. It sent pain in my head. I rolled over and groaned._

_"Rika," _

_I felt a shadow cover me. Groggily, I opened my eyes. _

_"You…" I muttered. _

_An amused smile that complimented his features played on his face. "That isn't what my parents named me, but I'll take that as well. Can you get up?"_

_I groaned again and tried to push myself up without succeeding. I collapsed again onto the ground. "No." I mumbled. "I can't…"_

_"Can you try? If you don't get up, you might…" He looked towards the thing that knocked me down. "Here…"_

_He bent down and lifted me onto his arms, being careful not to hurt my wings. He took a step back and pushed into the air. I felt the wind whipping my hair. _

_"Which one is it?" I asked faintly, not noticing as the creature tried to knock us off the air. Its clawed hand crashed down upon houses and trees, flattening them._

_"Nocuous," He replied without taking his eyes off the air to see where we're flying. "It's a Nocuous."_

---

"Joyful," Rika grumbled as she rubbed her forehead. "You gave me more memory. I think by now, I'm using more than the 2 I'm supposed to."

"We are using more than 2. Perhaps not for thinking, but where do you think we store all our memory of our past life?" Ryo smirked as they stopped. "Ah…here we go. It is a Nocuous after all."

Rika reached up and grabbed her sword from nowhere. "I guess now I get my revenge."

---

"Henry." Alice whispered urgently. "Where are Rika and Ryo? They've disappeared!"

Frowning, Henry stopped, as did Alice.

"Do you think they're in trouble?"

"I'm sure they can take care of themselves." Alice looked down. "But I'm still worried."

"Do you…want to go find them?" Henry asked hesitantly.

Alice was silent.

"What's up?" Henry asked with a light frown as he tried to catch Alice's eyes.

"They have been quite weird lately…" Alice mumbled, looking straight ahead. "It is as if they've been spending every free moment with each other. They are always both involved in the same thing, for example, being tired this morning."

Henry nodded. "Ever since Ryo came, weird things have been happening. Just a while ago, I don't remember what happened for a night and a morning. When I asked, everything came back right after either Ryo or Rika said it happened. Then, I…forgot them by the next morning…"

Alice's eyes widened as she turned to face Henry. "That happened to you too?"

Looking into Alice's light blue orbs, Henry nodded once again.

"And your back – did it feel weird? I mean, after the large gap in our memories, was the first thing you remember a strange feeling in your back?" Alice spoke urgently.

"Yes," Henry sighed. "There's something wrong with this. This isn't natural."

"We're missing a part of the puzzle…" Alice muttered to her self, but it was strangely audible to Henry.

Henry looked up to the sky. It was turning a nice shade of grey mixed with the blue it was.

His eyes widened. He nudged Alice, who looked up as well.

In the sky, two figures floated.

It wasn't just two figures; it was two teens with wings from their back.

One was holding a sword.

---

Thanks to all who reviewed:

Wings Of Reason: gives box of pocky you're the first to review my updated chapter last time. Thanks a lot. I'm glad that you actually love my story! (Insert: They love me! They really love me!) - -;; anyways. Yeah, sorry it took too long to update. I was incredibly busy during the summer, though I got nothing done, I just don't know why I never had any actual free time. Life is quite strange, isn't it…-sigh- Oh well, thanks again!

Blast-Hornet: I'm trying, still to avoid writing stuff that's OOC, but it's amusing how most of has learned to like characters that are OOC, which, of course, benefits for the authors, like me, who cannot write complete IC characters. I'm still quite picky about the stuff I read. I guess I should learn to be slightly more grateful…- -. I'm happy that you think this is actually a nice story! Thanks for the review, and thanks for reading this fic.

Luzr-Gurl13: You know one thing that's strange? Your penname doesn't cause one of those error squiggly things on word…hmm…Yeah, the chapters are pretty long. I'm currently nagging one of my pen-friends to write longer…- -; I guess the personality and mood has to do with the writing. For example, today I feel like babbling a lot (notice the extremely long replies I'm giving everyone about absolutely nothing.) I'm glad these chapters make you want to read the next one. Glad you loved it, thanks a lot.

---

Ryuki: Yeah, I know this is almost a short chapter compared to my usual habit of writing super long and probably boring chapters, but I wanted to end it in a half-cliffy for some reason…I don't quite know what the reason is yet, unlike Hoobastank. (For those who don't know, Hoobastank came out a while ago with a song named The Reason, and no I don't usually listen to Hoobastank, I just happened to have heard the song. Wouldn't this be so much easier if you all could read my mind?) Or perhaps Wings Of Reason has a reason, but I just happen not to. XD

Anyway, I'm going to just keep babbling, since you must read this, unless you skip it, then you might miss details. School's back and I just looked over my schedule and figured out that I can only use the computer on weekends because I don't have time. I mean, for a girl my age (no, still not telling you how old I am), I am ridiculously busy.

The ending is going to be quite surprising for everyone, because-

Oh, no, I can't say it! I almost forgot. Ah well, just keep reading until the end. The story is actually about…20 or so chapters, as I have planned it. But at this rate (I didn't write all that I planned to), it might be even more. Xx ah well, I guess that's all I'm going to blab. Tell me your reviews, if you like this story or not, or if it's a total failure, though, please, make your review slightly longer than, say, a word? -grin- Ja.

* * *


	7. Alice and Henry too?

**Chapter 7**

A/N: My gawk…so busy…it's impossible! I mean, seriously, it's not normal for one to be this busy! So many projects…and I'm taking enriched math…ugh…New school, many enemies…

Can you believe it? Someone stole my gum. They literally took 4 pieces of gum from the pack, which was new. I mean, if you're going to steal gum, at least do it properly. I know who did it, because they happened to be the only ones in the change room after I got out. How stupid is that? 4 people, 4 missing pieces of gum. If it were me, I'd take the whole thing. I mean, at least that leaves the owner clueless.

I go to school with IDIOTS.

Anyways, I don't own anything

…and I'm going on a school camp thing on Wed. Oct. 6 – 8. Fun, until it's my turn to cook…that will get messy. .

I literally don't own anything, not even my brain – it's my brain that owns me. ;-)

* * *

"Nocuous…" Rika muttered, and stopped to hover a safe distance away from the Nocuous. "Why Nocuous? Why today? Why NOW? Why not attack at Night?"

"Gee, Rika, if I had all those answers, I'd tell you." Ryo crossed his arms and hovered beside Rika.

"Shut up." Rika growled. "This must have happened for a reason."

"Well…" Ryo started, but stopped, as soon as he saw the glare Rika was giving him. It was almost as if her eyes were on fire, and Ryo could have sworn there were fangs sprouting from Rika's mouth.

"The guy who's in charge of all these things, he usually does things for a reason, right?" Rika frowned. "What's the reason this time?"

"I really don't know." Ryo replied. "But we can't just leave it destroying everything."

"I know, but what can we do?"

"We need to bring it somewhere…" Ryo said casually, as if it was a matter of fact. "I can teleport everything within a 100m radius, well, every life source anyways. So, all we need to do is clear everyone that's within the area."

"Gee, you couldn't have spoken sooner, could you? Moving people away…I don't think that's a problem." Rika looked downwards – everyone was rushing towards the other side of the city. If there were anyone left, they were either screaming their heads off while running, driving towards the opposite direction, or dead.

"True, true…" Ryo muttered. "However, I don't want any accidents…Rika; cast a shielding spell with a repelling spell – that should protect every non-magical life form from my little spell."

"Little?" Rika snorted and shook her head. "Alright then," She raised her index and middle finger, muttered a few words, drew a symbol in mid-air, and blasted it out. Golden bullets of energy flew from her palm and scattered around the area. Those that didn't find a target disappeared.

"Alright," Ryo bit his lips. He closed his eyes and reached out his hand, palm to the sky. Also using his middle and index fingers, Ryo drew a symbol onto his palm. Calling out a few words, he closed his hands to a fist. Then he turned his hands so the palm was facing downwards. His other hand (right) covered his left palm as soon as it opened. Turning both hands upright, Ryo opened his eyes and threw his hands in front of him, as one would do while shooting out a ki blast.

There was a symbol embedded in Ryo's hands, of an eye, and flames. The eye opened; a flash of orange and red light flew out and drowned the area in its brightness.

The light disappeared as suddenly as it came.

As did the Nocuous, Rika and Ryo

---

"Desert…?" Rika asked with disbelief. She froze, dodged an attack from the Nocuous, and hovered near Ryo again. "You brought us to a Desert?"

"Yeah," Ryo gave his trademark grin. "It's deserted."

"Oh, charming, Akiyama. Do you realize fighting in a desert will inflict damage on us as well?" Rika demanded.

"More damage to it than us," Ryo shrugged.

"Unless we collapse first," Rika snarled.

"Don't worry Rika; the nearest city has a well. And it's deserted." Ryo smirked and shouted a few words; a bright flame lit ball formed in his hands. Ryo launched the attack; it was smacked down by the Nocuous like a fly.

"Well…that certainly makes things more difficult…" Ryo blinked at the reaction of his attack: Nothing.

"Right, so ki doesn't exactly work." Rika threw her head up and shot upwards. Then suddenly she stopped, and as fast as she went up, she came down, foot first, towards the Nocuous. As she approached the beast, her body started to glow red.

Contact was made – Rika landed a kick on the Nocuous. It caused the beast to stumble, but other than that, nothing was changed. Hastily, Rika flew away as the Nocuous sent a wild wave its arm towards her.

"That didn't go too well either, did it?" Ryo flew to meet Rika.

"We're on the same side here," Rika scowled.

"Really, you know, you'd have never noticed." Ryo replied with an exaggerated puzzled look and a cross of his arms.

"Shut up." Rika clenched her fist and flew towards the Nocuous again. Her hands glowed green as she approached and attempted to melt the Nocuous' skin.

Like a mosquito, Rika was swatted away; she shot towards the ground.

---

_Throb._

_Throb._

_Throb._

Alice reached up to rub her temples, and felt a light sting from the touch.

_Crap. Where am I?_

_Henry__! Where's __Henry_

_Ouch, my back…_

_God, it's aching…so badly…_

_It feels as if it is ready to split…_

_Henry__…_

Looking around, Alice found Henry was also sitting up, disoriented.

"Henry!"

Henry looked around for the source of the voice and saw Alice, stumbling on the sand.

"Alice. Where are we?"

"I'd love to –"

Alice noticed a figure approaching head-first in a fast speed. The person's wings spread in attempt to slow down. Henry frowned and raised his hands to shade his eyes so he could see clearer

"That looks like…"

"RIKA!" Alice cried out.

---

Ryo saw Rika fall towards the ground in an angle. Swearing, Ryo shot after her in attempt to catch her. _God, if she falls and dies here…_

_W…? Are those people on the ground?_

_Wait…is that…_

_Henry__ and __Alice__…? _

_Oh, God no…them too?_

---

Alice started to run towards where Rika is falling. She was so close, she swore she could have even caught Rika, but a blur shot past her. The blur pulled up sharply from their dive and stopped right in the way of Rika's fall, hands outstretched.

Rika's wings stretched further and she started to slow down from the fall. Her eyes snapped opened and her eyebrows dipped in a frown. She gave her wings a deep flap, sending her shooting upwards and blowing sand all over Alice and Ryo.

"I try and save her, and I don't even get a thank you." Ryo muttered and spat out sand. He shot up after Rika. "WAIT!"

Rika materialized her sword and held it up in front of her. She yelled out a few inaudible words and thin red needles shot out from the metal weapon. It flew towards the Nocuous and sank into its skin. The beast roared in pain and started to scratch at its own skin.

Ryo flew to hover near Rika. "That one wasn't in the book." He commented.

"Improvisation," Rika smirked.

"By the way, Alice and Henry are here." Ryo scratched his head. Rika nodded slowly, not paying attention. Then, suddenly her eyes widened and she turned her head sharply to face Ryo.

"Alice and Henry…?" Rika's jaws nearly dropped with disbelief.

"I know." Ryo looked down; Henry was running to Alice and helping her up.

Nearby, the Nocuous suddenly froze and fell over without moving a muscle.

"Dead…?" Ryo asked.

"Stunned," Rika replied and tilted her wings. She materialized a sheath, tucked the sword in, and hung in on her back. She started to drop slowly.

"Hi Rika," Alice called.

"Hey…" Rika sweat dropped as she tried to think of an excuse to explain how she was able to fly. "Umm…"

"Nice wings…" Alice stared in awe.

"Yeah…that…I got it when I was – wait a second…" Rika frowned. "You can see my wings?"

"Yeah," Henry nodded. "They aren't exactly hard to miss…"

Rika looked at Ryo, who shrugged.

"Is there something wrong?" Alice asked cautiously.

Rika walked over to Alice. "Can I see your back?" She asked. Alice shrugged and turned.

"Be careful, they hurt a lot for some reason…" Alice bit her lips.

Rika saw bumps, large bumps that were showing through the shirt. It looked as if any moment her back would split. Rika muttered a soothing spell and touched the bumps gently.

Alice shivered. "What did you do? That felt cool."

Ryo strode over to Henry and studied him carefully. Henry fidgeted under Ryo's stare. Out of nowhere, Ryo reached out to touch Henry's forehead. Henry froze.

---

_"They need help?" I looked over to my partner, __Alice__, in confusion. "The Slayer needs our assistance?"_

_"That's what he said." My partner nodded, her pale blond hair cupping her face. Her voice was flowing; it was so pleasant to listen to._

_"Then we had better go." I said firmly and stretched my wings. They were stiffer than the Slayer and her assistance. Mine was made for flying with more loads – the feathers were rigid and powerful and the bones were stronger. But the downside to that is speed. I was not as agile as the Slayer and my partner. _

_My partner's wings were the opposite of mine – speed was her upside, but the wings were not very strong. It had thin feathers, all were very soft. Her wings were light and her directions were flexible. _

_We rose into the air and headed towards the Slayer. _

_---_

_"We're nearly there." __Henry__ told me. I bit my lips, I was exhausted. I was not born with the power of long range flight. In the distance, I could see one small figure glowing brightly. Many dark figures rose around it._

_"I can only see one," I told __Henry__. "Weren't there more?"_

_"Yeah…" __Henry__ breathed and frowned. "We better hurry to help her." He took hold of my hands and sped forwards, dragging me along. I was thankful for the help. I looked at the lone Slayer._

_The figure's glow increased and the next thing I knew, I was swallowed in a thundering explosion…_

---

Henry stirred. He felt a numbing sting at his back. It was so painful that it was numb, and it was so horrible that it felt…nice.

"Ah, Henry, don't move." Henry's eyes opened and he saw someone's hands emitting a dull blue light.

Ryo channelled his power into his hands to heal the wounds in the wings as fast as possible. Rika did the same with Alice.

"You could have let them slowly get used to it first." Rika told him.

"You had two days." Ryo shrugged. "I had about three. These two had nearly a week."

"After being taken over by shadows." Rika pointed out. "I never knew them from back then…" she said thoughtfully and sighed, removing her hand from Alice's forehead as she finished her healing spell.

"You're getting more memories back, right?"

"Every night," Rika nodded. "Hold on while I finish the Nocuous."

Ryo stared. "Hold on while you finish the Nocuous? What on –"

Rika took off in a twirl and a flap of her snow white wings. Feathers flew off and landed, extremely noticeable in the golden glow of the sand. Ryo sighed. "So brave, and yet so stupid,"

"Rika can take the Nocuous on." Alice said, like it was a matter of fact. She shrugged and tested her wings, flapping them slowly. "She is Rika, after all. You are Ryo – you can take it on alone too." She stood up and brushed off sand.

Ryo stared with disbelief. One second ago, these two were clueless, now they act as if they knew everything.

"Ryo, after you awoke our memories, you woke most of your own powers, along with ours, and Rika's." Henry took off the sweater he was wearing and batted it, getting dust and sand out, so it actually looked navy blue, rather then yellowish white. He flexed his wings – majestic gleaming brown feathers glistened. He flapped it once, sending sand everywhere.

Alice looked as if she had troubles getting off her ground – her wings looked so fragile, as if they would tear the moment you touched it. She had no doubts and flapped them. Within moments, she took off. Ryo blinked and found what Henry said was true. He too was getting more of his power back, rather than memory. Henry took off after Ryo, rising steadily.

Looking straight at the fallen beast, Rika sneered. "He doesn't look so tough. I should let him wake up before finishing him-"

"Rika," Ryo cleared his throat. "We don't have time for this, finish him off, we have matters to discuss."

Rika shrugged and sighed. She pointed a finger and a sphere glowed at tip. She sent the sphere towards the Nocuous. The little sphere paused, stretched out and covered the Nocuous like a net. Then, it exploded.

_The war is soon, and we will win this time. Indifferent from how you crushed out pride – we shall crush you life._

The syllables rang in Rika's head, she blinked and frowned. "Alright, back we go. This is getting a bit too out of hand." She muttered and closed her eyes. Her figure flickered and disappeared.

Ryo looked at Alice and Henry, and then the three also flickered into nothing.

---

Big thank you to all reviewers!

Wings Of Reason: Yay, I'm glad you love my story! It makes me all warm inside…apart from the ramen I'm eating…). I just put a new twist in the story – I hope it doesn't piss anyone off. I will have to start making plot related changes into the story. As in – how are they going to have a war, if there are only 2 Slayers…?

alexian-goddess: Well, I'm glad you read my story and decided to review anyways. Um, though I might point out (but I think you might have realized by the time you read this note) you're…missing a chapter every time you read. X.x meaning, the chapter I recently updated – you're not there yet. Heh…ah well, I'm glad you love this story (as I always am) and here's the new update.

Forlorn Melody: I just realized – I love your penname… (- -;; spontaneous) Yeah, I guess my story isn't very "flowingish". I'm sorry about that…I'm just getting the boring parts out of my system. Actually, the whole thing's going to be pretty dulling for me after a while. Then, war time! Dun, dun, dun… Anyways. Thanks for the review that's more than one word. You know, I love those! (heh…heh…) Don't worry, smart-alecks are cool.

youkiaofdaunderworld: I hope I spelled your penname right. Um, I thank you for the review. Thanks for the compliment…and here's the update. Hope you enjoyed it.

Despot Dragon: Well, I'm flattered that you chose this as your first Digimon story. If you do read this, just to say, this is not one of the best stories out there. I'm not one of the best writers (See my friends, they have over…say, 200 or so review…) or one of the most popular. If this gives you a bad impression of Digimon – I apologize – read something else! I really don't want to ruin Digimon's name. But thanks for the review. I'll try to fix some of my mistakes. Gomen if you are confused…and yeah.

Arabella Silverbell: 20 chapters, approximately. Often, when I threaten, I come upon the same situation. I can't do anything to the writer. But I'll just keep in mind that you're out to hunt me down, just to give myself a reminder to pull some time out for fanfiction. I shall continue, since this is my only successful fic. I'm fixing it up soon, so…). Anyways, thanks for the review, hope you liked this chapter.

* * *

Did you know: I can type about, 70 words per minute? That's as fast as my Information Technology teacher. However, my accuracy is about…eh, 85 percent…not cool. It took me about…a month to write this whole chapter. Sorry…I've been so busy. Well, bike hike was awesome – my partner forgot some of our food. Bad thing, bad, bad, bad, bad, but bike hike was still fun. Including where my partner found a boy friend (gawd) and I punched two people in the nose, caught a few grass hoppers and praying mantises, played flags with a stomach ache, went hiking to try to get lost, launched home made rockets, and packaged out tent. (The last one was a miracle – the tent took forever to fit in the bag.)

I'm going rock climbing and skiing with my school soon. Guys – Horizon Alternative is awesome. (I live in Canada.)

Big thanks to all who reads by babbling. Um, I've decided to include some song chapters. Suggestions welcome, also, if you hate the idea, tell me too. Expect the next chapter, oh, in a few…weeks, months, who knows. I'll try. JA!


	8. The Dream

**Chapter 8**

A/N: Wow…I've finally started chap. 8, but now it is Christmas holidays…AND MY BIRTHDAY IS IN A FEW DAYS!!! January second, to be specific…Um, wow, so much happened since October…if you don't want to hear it, skip on to the story.

Dance week was awesome…we got to learn ballroom dancing…and I'm really good at the waltz, and somewhat the jive. But foxtrot…I mean, seriously, that's not my style. Um, dance week, I discovered my best friend had 10 – 12 people after her and my other friend (who's a guy) wanted to commit suicide, for real. -Sigh- but we're over all that…

Winter feast was cool…though I missed the actual feast…congrats to all the people from my school that have their own little 'thing' with bands and stuff…like D.C., Sam, Daniel and Jackson…they were awesome. XD

Oh, quick note – I will start shortening my chapters. Um, I've gotten advice from other, more successful authors (Kawaii Saki-chan) for not losing interest in stories, and apparently shorter chapters work. I think I AM boring you with such long chapters…aren't I?

Also, one more thing, on the last chapter, I forgot that percentage signs don't show up. So when Kenta was telling Ryo and Henry about his deck, imagine a percent sign after the number. And also when Rika was telling Ryo about using up more than '2', it was actually 2 percent, because some genius figured that humans only use two percent of their brains.

Special note to Despot Dragon: Aw…do you really have a pet monkey? I've always wanted a pet monkey…seriously!

* * *

_"Are you alright?"_

_I asked him with concern. He seemed to be lost within the shadows of his own thoughts as he simply sat there, staring into the fire. He looked hollow and weary. _

_"Ryo…" I called again._

_"I am fine." He said in a voice that held such harshness, it could not have been him. "It is you that you should be concerned with, Slayer."_

_"Ryo, what are you…?" _

_"Don't you get it slayer?" He turned to me; his usual cerulean blue eyes were a menacing gold, boring into me. "You will never be safe. It is your closest friends that shall betray you…I have been since day one." His face curved into a hideous smirk. "They are plotting to kill you, Rika. It is not us who are your enemies."_

_Then, where Ryo stood a second previously, was an aged sorceress, her beady eyes on me. "Ryo is not to be trusted, Rika…"_

_"And why should I believe in someone like you? Ryo has been there for me." Rika retorted. "I don't see you risking your life."_

_The lady merely chuckled. The rumbling laughter turned into a loud cackle; the hair on my neck stood up._

---

Rika stood at the corner of the intersection of the street she lived on, and the street Ryo did. She tapped her foot impatiently. He was never this late before… he'd better have a good excuse.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late…" Ryo panted as he appeared, opposite of the direction of his house. "My watch broke."

Rika scowled, "fix it…it's annoying when you have to wait for someone in the middle of this mess." She glared at a man who walked by with fake hair and sunglasses.

"Really…you out of all people should know that this place is usually more normal." Ryo clapped Rika on the shoulder.

"I suppose…but if they're staring at you…" Rika trailed off – she hated attention.

"Good time to make some new friends, eh?" Ryo grinned. "Good thing I'm not the only one late…"

It was true. Alice and Henry were supposed to have met there as well, except they were going to be later than Ryo.

"Good thing…?" Rika cocked an eyebrow.

"You know, Rika, it might be you whose watch is too fast." Ryo pointed out.

"I seriously doubt that." Rika informed him.

"Hey guys," Henry's voice came from behind them, in the same direction Ryo did. "Why so early?"

Ryo's grin widened as he looked at Rika with an expression that said, 'hah, in your face'. Rika scowled.

"Good morning, kids." Alice had arrived. "Thank you for waiting." She said, mocking their Vice Principal.

"Not welcome…" Rika mumbled. "Stupid staring people…"

"Why so grumpy? It's a bright, cheerful Sunday morning; the birds are chirping…the grass is dewy…" Alice trailed off in a happy-go-lucky voice that didn't quite suit her, and would have been better on Jeri.

Rika thought about the dream, and about how the three were betraying her. Why were they late? Perhaps they had a meet…that would explain them coming from the same direction and being late. She knew her watch was on time – it was an auto-detect watch, just new on the market, which her mum had gotten for her.

Maybe they were acting, and were plotting…

No…

It couldn't be…

Could it?

"I'm not being grumpy…I just…woke up unpleasantly, that's all." Rika lied, and to boost it, she weaved a tale about how her grandmother was bothering her about food, and her mother about her clothes, and her alarm set on ring instead of radio.

They bought it.

"Normally, I set my alarm on ring…" Ryo informed her. "The alarm doesn't wake me up."

"That's right." Alice said in fake sympathy and patted Ryo's back. "Don't worry…we don't mind that you sleep like a boulder, and eat like a pig. We really don't…"

---

The three spent the rest of the day eating ice cream and discussing the problem. Now that they had more memory and power back, it wasn't long before someone realized that there were more than Shadows and Nocuouses. What they were called, the four have not remembered. But a faint shadow of what it was haunted their minds, teasing, toying with the fact that not all of their memory had come back.

By the afternoon, they had returned to the park.

"It started with a Z." Rika announced after a while of silence.

"Could have…we don't know." Henry muttered. Even when he is muttering, he is reasonable. Rika shook her head at his calmness and the way he always looked at everything from more than one point of view, which is good, unless you are trying to guess a long forgotten name. Then, every possibility becomes no possibility at all.

"It could have started with a P for all we know…" Alice grumbled.

"Let's stop wasting our time." Henry told the other three. "Knocking our noodles out of our head won't help us figure it out…nothing will. We'll just have to wait and expect anything."

"I agree…" Ryo said quietly. "We're not going anywhere with this."

"I have a question." Henry piped up. "There is a supposed 'war' between the Shadow people and the Slayers, correct?" To that, Rika and Ryo nodded. "May I ask how are we going to have a war if all we have on our side are the four of us?"

Then it hit Rika. The question was never really answered. She didn't know. How _can_ they defend the innocence? They have merely 4 people.

"I think…" Ryo paused, thinking over the answer. "I think when the time is right, the good will rise to full power, just as the Shadowed have."

"When is the time right?" Rika frowned.

"I think…it will be soon…" Ryo mumbled. "But right now, if the war were to happen in five minutes, we'd get our asses kicked."

"Hear, hear…" Alice raised her hand to toast with an invisible glass. She gave a meagre chuckle to feeble joke.

Rika sighed. This was not going well. They could, of course, hold their ground, but only for so long…before history repeats itself. Except this time, it's the shadows that will come to total power.

"If the shadows to come to complete power…" Ryo said, almost as if he read Rika's thoughts. "Everyone would be controlled, and there would be bloodshed everywhere. No one would want to live in such a place…"

"They don't have a choice." Rika finished for him. "It's all or nothing in this game…"

---

_"Child…"_

_The sorceress was back. I flinched at her name for me. I was not a child, and certainly, she would not be one to call me a child. I concentrated on emptying my soul so that no lie of hers would contaminate me._

_"Do you understand? All your suspicions were correct – I was almost worried you had forgotten." Her drawling voice slowly drilled its way into my mind. "They were planning to kill you, my child."_

_"I am not your child." I snarled. _

_The woman chuckled. "Now, it is perhaps time to use your hate upon your true enemies. Ryo, Alice and Henry…they wish you dead."_

_"No, they don't. They're my friends…they won't do that."_

_"They were incarnated into this world to become close to you, and then when the time comes, kill you. You can believe whatever…but, stay alert for who your true enemy is."_

_"You are my enemy, trying to feed me lies about my friends." I spat._

_"Especially Ryo…he is the leader of the three, leading them into a secret plot to rid of you." The sorceress's voice was misty and made me drowsy. Her voice was venomous every time she talked about Ryo, Alice and Henry._

_"He risked his life for me."_

_"It was all an illusion."_

_"All those times, Ryo was alone with me, why didn't he try to kill me then?" I challenged._

_"I could kill you right now." She said in a way that surprised me. Almost as if she wanted to, just to prove to me she could. "But I do not. Do you know why? Your little friends do not have the power to kill you yet. But they are waiting…"_

_"No." I shook me head._

_"Yes Rika, they are trying to kill you. Listen to me…Rika, believe me…"_

_Her smile grew wider and her eyes narrowed. I felt my head aching…it hurts…so much…_

---

Big bouquet for all who reviewed!

alexian-goddess: I can't believe I have sisters reading my fic…that's so flattering. Though I haven't figure out how…Um, yeah, I guess sisters can be annoying, I don't know – I'm an only child. :-P Here's an update, hope ya liked it. :)

Wings of Reason: Wow...your sister is alexian-goddess? That's so cool!Despite how I go to school with idiots, a few of the guys aren't all that bad looking. Even though all of them are stupid, they're at least good at one thing. Thanks for the review! I hope you like this chapter.

midnight-mystic-dragon: I am so glad you like my writing. XD here's an update. :)

youkaiofdaunderworld: Yay - a supporter for my somewhat stupid song idea. Though I did quite like that idea…ah well. Here's an update!

Despot Dragon: Ah, writers block, does hang around a lot, doesn't it? Um, you weren't being terse, don't worry. I'm just…worried for bad first impressions. Thanks for the review! I'll try to work on the past-future thing…I'll read over my whole story again, when I have time. Yes, I do type pretty fast if I may say so myself – I've been writing, playing Materia Magica (which, as geeky as it may be, is a text java MUD) for 5 years straight. I'm a computer nerdish person…lolz. But my teacher is still killing me about my accuracy. (He has ninety something accuracy.) Have you tried the came, Typer Sharks? It's stupid and childish but increases typing…and somewhat entertaining.

Xtremequeen666: Thanks for the nice comment and the review. Here's your update, not as soon as I absolutely could, but as soon as I did. :)

---

A/N: Ok, half the length of my usual chapters, or so. It's easy to see the plot developing…I mean, even as I read it over now, it is so simple. Ah well…I will make it slightly stretched next chapter. Tell me if the shorter chapters are better, or worse. Or unless you wanted it even shorter, or longer, or you want something in between…just review and comment.

Also, a bouquet (which is what I'm going to use from now on) is basically a thank you. A nick is a sorry; a brickbat is something bad…like fat Joe stepping on my foot or something. (There's no one I know named fat Joe…) A Cody is something weird…or was that funny? Ah, all the love to my school…coz they made up all that. XD Isn't that awesome?

This is the first time that I completed a chapter in the same range of time…usually I write half of it in one month and leave it (lack of muses) until a few weeks/months later. Yay!


	9. Unwilling

**Chapter 9**

A/N: Well, school has started, once more, and Sam's dad just offered free jiving lessons (his dad's a professional dancer, so is his mum, and they're both quite famous.) I can't go. I doubt Connor will be able to lift me. ;; But it'll be fun watching Mikhaila and Sam dance. (They are going out…aw, my two best friends! -Tears- lolz…)

Anyhow, here's your update.

* * *

"Hey Rika,"

I felt someone clap my back. I flinched and glared at who it was – Ryo.

"Stop with the ice queen act, will you?" Ryo said, annoyed. "You're been so paranoid and cold lately. What's up?"

"Nothing," Rika replied shortly.

Ryo frowned. "Nothing…hah…and you expect me to believe you? I've known you for too long."

"We've known each other for only about 2 months or so."

"Ah, no, you're mistaken. We've known each other for a few thousand years." Ryo shook his head.

Rika was silent. _What's his point? That we've know each other long enough for me to not think he will kill me? And then, when the right moment comes, he will kill me anyways. What a liar._

"Aw, come on, no snaps?" Ryo pretended to look surprised and hurt. When Rika didn't reply to that, he frowned. "Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"You would know…" Rika mumbled.

"What?" Ryo frowned. "How would I know? You're the one who's being all weird."

"So you're not lying?" Rika raised an eyebrow quizzically. "And you expect me to believe that?"

"Lying about…what?" Ryo asked, bewildered. "Rika, seriously, what is wrong?"

"You three…you're trying to…aren't you? Admit it…I know what you're up to." Rika's fingers trembled lightly with anger.

"What? We're not trying anything!" Ryo exclaimed. That was not completely truthful. They were trying to plan a reunion party and surprising her. If he told her now, Alice and Ryo would kill her. Ryo sighed inwardly and told himself it would all be worth it in the end.

"You can stop lying now, Ryo…" Rika shook her eyes and closed them. "I trusted you,"

"You can trust me…" Ryo whispered. He frowned. Finding out about the party…well, that wouldn't cause all this. "What's up?"

"Go away…sorry to ruin your plan, but you'll never succeed." Rika growled and walked away.

Ryo let her. _Talk about major mood swings… she knows something I don't…what's wrong? I have to find out…_

_¤_

_"You were right," Rika sighed to the old woman as she sat down beside her. "I can't trust anyone anymore."_

_The woman grinned, showing several missing or rotting teeth. "See, Rika, you can always trust me."_

_"Yes I can. You're practically my grandmother now…I can trust you with…anything…" Rika's eyes darkened as her voice grew monotonous. "Anything…"_

_"Good, my child, you will believe me when I say this? Ryo is angered. He is gathering Alice and Henry to try to kill you as soon as possible. They're going to catch you off guard. Do you want that to happen?" The woman said in a soothing voice._

_"No…Ryo will not…win…" Rika murmured._

_"Exactly… so we must kill him before he gets a chance to kill us…" The woman explained gently. "Do you think you can do that?"_

_"Yes…kill…Ryo…before he kills…me…" Rika murmured._

_A drop of tear fell from her eyes._

¤

"So, you're saying that Rika thinks we're up to something?" Alice repeated. "Do you think she found out about the party?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Alice. But really, would she care that much about a surprise party? Enough to say, 'I trusted you,' and tell me to leave her alone? I mean, unless she's in a major stage of PMS…" Ryo shook his head. "She's acting as if I was plotting to steal her powers and kill her or something."

"Maybe she does think you are." Henry shrugged helplessly.

"Yeah, sure," Alice rolled her eyes. "After all they've been through together?"

"It's true. She wouldn't suspect that," Ryo frowned and looked down.

"Unless something is tricking her to think that," Henry tapped his chin.

"Too much Sci-Fi, Henry," Alice shook her head.

"No, wait, he might be right." Ryo frowned. "In the shadow world, who knows what's what?"

"Oh, come on, who would do – oh my god, you're right…They're probably plotting to get you, Ryo, killed first. Without you, we'd be weaker, because you have the most experience. Then, they're probably going to kill me and Henry, and then Rika, who would have been so hollow, she would kill herself!" Alice's voice was shrill.

"That would make sense, but what are the chances of that?" Henry laughed. He froze for a moment, ran it through in his head and sighed. "Scratch what I said. What are we going to do?"

"Tomorrow," Ryo replied, looking out the window. "I'll come up with something then. I have to be home before sunset…my mom's cooking tonight. She hardly ever cooks." He smiled weakly. "Bye guys."

"See you," Alice waved feebly.

Henry smiled and nodded goodbye.

¤

_Kill him…before he kills you…_

_I will…I will kill him…_

_Make sure you tear out all his power and give it to me, so I can always be there for you._

_Yes…_

_I am dying…but once he is gone, we will be invincible._

_Invincible… we will be…_

I couldn't see where I was going. Everything was flying past me like blurs. All I know is that I must kill someone.

Who?

I don't know. But I knew I had to kill someone…someone with blue eyes, brown hair…someone that is out to kill me…

Ryo…? Not Ryo, no, please, don't let it be him…

My body was in control…I couldn't even feel the ground beneath me as I walked…

Perhaps I was flying…perhaps…

I saw him. Ryo, run! Please run! I tried to open my mouth to yell at him, but no voice came out. I slowed down, or rather, my body did. I felt my arm rise to grip my sword. I saw his face twist with fear and confusion. Of course, betrayal…what happened to me?

_You are to kill him, Rika, remember!_

_But what if I don't want to?_

_Remember our conversation, Rika…_

I felt a trickle of tear down my face. No…I didn't feel it, I knew it was there, but I didn't feel it.

Before I knew it, I lunged at him with my sword.

Run, Ryo, run!

¤

Bouquet for everyone who reviewed! Gomen for such a long break!

Wings of Reason – Here's the update. Sorry I couldn't get it out sooner! I've got no excuse except homework, science fair, and piano. Hope you like this chp!

Alexian-goddess – Sorry I couldn't update soon! But it's out now…thanks for continuing to read and review. I'm glad you liked the chp!

Despot Dragon – As I said before, I wish not to laugh at you. It's not the reviews that count, but the writing. I'm not doing so well myself, as you can see. People prefer to read romance fics with the most popular coupling. Generally, I don't write those. But still, I try to enjoy what I have. Thanks for the compliment though. x) Hope you liked this chp.

midnight-mystic-dragon – Ak! So sorry for the lack of updates. I've been encountering many writers blocks, not to mention homework, science fair, piano… hey, a writer's life's usually busy. Yes, I hate homework too! Thanks for the compliment, hope you like this chapter.

youkiaofdaunderworld – Aww, I'm flattered by your compliments. I hope you like this chapter!

EvilEbil – -bursts into tears- My ego is growing by the second. I'm really flattered. Sorry for the long wait – hmwk, piano, science fair, the usual, you know. I hope you like this chapter!

¤

A/N: I'll try to keep it short. March break! Wow, this chapter took around, what, 3 – 4 months to update? So sorry! March break is here, so I'll get more updates out as soon as possible. Sorry for the delay! Hmwk, piano, science fair, everyone! Plus, Mik and Sam aren't going out anymore…ah well. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Seacrest, out!

I mean, er, Ryuki, out ˆ ˆ


	10. Quickly Approaching

**Chapter 10**

A/N: And it'sAugust now.

---

A spurt of blood spattered the sidewalk. Ryo turned and grimaced with pain. It was Rika's sword that went through his shoulder. His senses have been tingling, and if he didn't watch for the sword in time, the sword would have been in his heart.

The pain was dulled with shock.

"Rika?" Ryo choked out. "Why…"

"You planned to kill me," Rika said softly. "Don't try to lie. You're plotting to steal my power, along with Alice and Henry."

It was too bad that their guess was so close.

"Are you planning to kill me?" Ryo asked.

"Before you kill me," Rika replied.

"What if I never —"

"Don't lie to me!" Rika growled and hurled her sword forward. Ryo muttered the words for a shield that protected him. Rika's sword hit the shield and bounced right off.

"Rika, would I lie to you?"

_Yes…_

"Yes…" Rika's eyes were clouded with a certain darkness that wouldn't ever be hers.

"Would I?" Ryo frowned.

"Yes…" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "She's right; she'll never lie to me…"

"Who is she?" Ryo was genuinely confused.

"Just… leave me alone!" Rika fell to her knees.

"What?"

"Leave me alone…" Rika shook her head slowly, clutching her head.

"Rika…" Ryo kneeled beside her, one hand at where Rika's sword penetrated through his shoulder, one hand out towards her.

"Please, I can't fight him… I can't kill him…"

_Yes you can… you can kill the man that will kill you…_

"Rika…" Ryo's eyes clouded with hurt, seeing Rika wince in pain as she fought, inside, against 'her'. He touched her shoulders for comfort.

---

_"Ryo," she called up to the boy. "Set me down. I want to try to fly once again." _

_Ryo looked down, and nodded. He set her onto the ground. Rika gripped her hands into a fist. Slowly, she stretched her wings out and started to flap it. A fair gust of wind started to gather around Rika. Rika slowly took a step back, but she was afraid, afraid that she would fall and die once again. She could still feel the pain and sting of her last death. _

_The Shadow, seeing that Rika was about to regain flight, decided it didn't want her to fly. It would give her a big advantage. So the shadow pounced towards Rika. _

_"RIKA!__ Behind you!" Ryo called out, and was about to swoop in to lift her out of the way. But a blade of black ki blew him back and he struck a wall. _

_Rika, seeing that the shadow had knocked Ryo away, Rika was on her own for a while. Frowning and gathering all the scraps of confidence, Rika pushed off of the ground and her wings stretched out. It gave a graceful push and Rika was in the air. She hovered, receiving the sensation of flight back in her veins. She smiled, but it faded as she saw Ryo slowly trying to get up. She soared over to where he was and helped him up…_

_--- _

_I looked at the blue-eyed boy. He seems to be distracted. _

_"What's wrong?" I asked. _

_"The Shadows…it's approaching at a fast speed." He frowned. _

_I closed my eyes – I already knew that. I forgot that he could also sense the movement of the Shadows. He was a strong slayer, but I did not know anything about him at all._

_"What is…your name?" I asked the blue-eyed boy. "You do have a name, right?"_

_"Akiyama."__ He replied. "Ryo Akiyama."_

_I nodded, and tried to carve the name permanently into my head. I expected him to ask for my name. It didn't come. _

_"Aren't you going to ask for mine?" I asked him with suspicion. _

_He turned to look at me. "I don't need to." He looked away again. "I already know."_

_--- _

_Since she turned 14, Rika has been having nightmares about a certain thing, yet when she wakes up, she does not remember a thing. All she could see from the previous night is a black sea of nothing. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she could see a pair of clear blue eyes, or even a flash of snow white feathers of a pair of wings. _

_--- _

_Rika took a surprised step back just as the roller skater sped past her. She shook her head and cursed under her breath. It seems like people don't know how to have control these days. However, the guy who skated past her skated back. She was surprised because she expected the guy to just go away without doing anything to do with her. The guy, however, pulled to a stop in front of her. _

_"Hey…sorry I almost hit you. Are you alright?"_

_She turned to make a smart comment when she met his eyes. It looked so familiar…clear blue…it was the pair of eyes she saw in her dream. _

_"No…problem…" She said and slowly turned around. Her brain ran about one hundred thousand kilometers per second, trying to relate the situations. Though, as fast as that is, no answer came to her. _

_Rika slowly started to walk towards the park, when she realized that the guy was still there. _

_"Have we met before?" _

_The guy said with a curious frown. He slowly skated towards her. _

"I don't believe so." She replied.

"I'm sorry then, because you look oddly familiar." He gave a smile.

_--- _

_Turning around, Ryo looked right into Rika's eyes. A moment later, he found himself almost being chocked to death…_

_…By a hug…_

_Then, he was released before he got a chance to hug back. _

_"Ryo, I'm sorry…I should have let you fight…you always knew how to take care of things…" Rika muttered. _

_"I'm sorry too…" Ryo sighed. "I shouldn't have said those things…"_

_"Well, damn right you shouldn't have!" Rika said, suddenly furious. Ryo looked at her with surprise and disbelief. _

_Suddenly, Rika's frown turned into smiled. "I forgive you." _

_--- _

_Rika materialized her sword and held it up in front of her. She yelled out a few inaudible words and thin red needles shot out from the metal weapon. It flew towards the Nocuous and sank into its skin. The beast roared in pain and started to scratch at its own skin. _

_Ryo flew to hover near Rika. "That one wasn't in the book." He commented. _

_"Improvisation," Rika smirked. _

_"By the way, Alice and Henry are here." Ryo scratched his head. Rika nodded slowly, not paying attention. Then, suddenly her eyes widened and she turned her head sharply to face Ryo._

_"Alice and Henry…?" Rika's jaws nearly dropped with disbelief._

_-_

_"Hi Rika," Alice called. _

_"Hey…" Rika sweat dropped as she tried to think of an excuse to explain how she was able to fly. "Umm…"_

_"Nice wings…" Alice stared in awe. _

_"Yeah…that…I got it when I was – wait a second…" Rika frowned. "You can see my wings?"_

_"Yeah," Henry nodded. "They aren't exactly hard to miss…"_

_Rika stared at Ryo, who stared politely back…_

_--- _

"Get out of my head."

"Oh, but dear, you need me. How will you know whether – "

The sorceress gave a gagging noise as Rika reached out and grabbed her by the neck, in one, swift motion.

"I don't need you." Rika narrowed her eyes and bowed her head slightly. "Get. Out."

"How can you make me?" The sorceress choked out, a bitter smirk on her face.

Rika mouthed a few well chosen words, and redness started to seep into the woman's skin, from Rika's fingertips. The sorceress shrieked in agony as the redness seemed to melt her into dust.

Rika closed her eyes and let her self float into the blackness of her own mind…

---

Ryo looked around for a solution. Rika had collapsed right off the spot; it was good that she was knelt down.

So, Ryo could either float Rika to safety while flying him self, while wasting about all his power, or he could wait until Rika woke up. Or he could fly for Henry and Alice…

That was when Rika's eyes fluttered open.

"I'm sorry," Were the first words out of her mouth.

"It's alright." Ryo whispered back and hugged her close.

A layer of black smoke-like screen floated off of Rika's skin. It wisped around and melted into thin air.

Rika buried her face into Ryo's shoulder.

She flinched.

The wind carried a message.

It was here…

---

Big thank-you for everyone still reading - a virtual plush for you all!

Thank You's to:

Xtremequeen666 - lol... I guess I was watching american idol at the time.

Alexian-goddess - I hope this wasn't dissapointing... : )

Despot Dragon Necrophades - lol, no idea how you get into these messes. Hey, I get into em too... (checks out now updated list) most of em are on hiatus. Well, I guess that's how you get by. Leave the readers hanging. BTW, nice name change. I was never brave enough to... - -;;

Knowlee - if Rika killed Ryo, there would be no story. xD

phoenix-raine - I hope everything makes sense in the end... x.X thanks a bunch for the suggestion.

DarkDevil666- Thanks for the review, I hope this chapter was "satisfying".

Mah-Xien - we're all lazy. :) See how most of these sentenses don't have capitals? Yeah, I really don't like it either when the authors are in their own stories. I mean, it's fun to imagine... (uh, kind of) but posting the stories... well...

kunoichixxkanna - Thanks for the review.

---

A/N: Sorry for taking such a long time to update. I moved to America, Houston to be specific, and wasn't very happy about it. Internet and computer was down for such a long time, and we had to find a temp place to stay (with no internet) And inspiration was so hard to catch… it's like the BFG, except I don't have his big ears to hear my inspiration. - -;; Oh boy, I'm going insane.


	11. Fly

**Chapter 11**

A/N: Let it begin. I don't know… it might be the chick flick dad purchased, against my will, for me. The money could have been to get me my digital camera/webcam, but no. We had to buy a stupid movie by Hilary Duff. No offence to anyone who likes the movie (Raise Your Voice… god…), but I don't – not much at all. She's better than Lindsay Lohan, the bitch with a bad attitude and a problem with dieting, who I hate with all my heart and I don't care who I offend for that. They can go kiss… well. Anyway, the italics are from the song Fly, by Hilary Duff. It fits… and the chapter was inspired by that song. Kind of. Not really… ah, blah.

Sorry for the very short 'fight scene', but I was out of inspiration on that one. Also, sorry for any grammar mistakes, stupidity, or anything of the sort that might have striked a nerve/offended anyone.

I also want to thank everyone who reviewed.

---

Rika landed carefully on the tip of her feet. Her wings balanced her on the very top of a tall stack of rocks, to the south of Japan, by the ocean. It was almost sun-set and the breeze from the sea was swirling around. It was a beautiful, mind clearing sight, and it was a comfort, seeing the endless blue of the ocean clashing with the burning red of the sky.

She closed her eyes, and opened them again.

She had accused Ryo, of all people, to want to kill her. The same guy who saved her life so many times, and the same guy that provided her with hope and support at the beginning.

He was the guy that had awoken her memories.

Rika closed her eyes, and felt the ticking of the second hand in the sound of the ocean. She slowed her breathing, until everything slowed, and almost stopped.

They're coming. The sky was red, like the blood about to be spilt.

The ocean's blue, like the soul of the soldiers, whether good or bad.

There was no true purpose to this war, but to just settle it all.

_In a moment  
__Everything can change  
__Feel the wind on your shoulders  
__For a minute  
__All the__ world can wait  
__Let go of your yesterday_

Rika let her wings expand to its maximum. It was several times longer than she was. The feathers ruffled with the ocean breeze. The air brushed Rika's shoulders, and caressed her face. It twirled around, like a playful pet. She sighed, breathing in the salty air. They had a four men army, and they were against thousands, millions. Who has the advantage, no one knows, as they've all grown in power since the beginning, which was quite a few months ago.

Deep within her lungs, the moist, ocean air sent tingles across Rika's back, arms and side. And deep within Rika's stomach, a deep knot of nervousness was tying itself firmly in place.

_Can you feel it calling?  
__Can you hear it in your soul?  
__Can you trust this longing?  
__And take control…_

Rika closed her eyes and plunged herself deep, down, to the very bottom, her wings spread, wide and beautiful. The air rushed past Rika's face, giving her a shot of adrenaline. Her wings soared her in a deep 'u' up to the very top once again. This time, Rika let her wings guide her, high, into where oxygen was scarce.

It was cold.

_Fly  
__Open up the part of you  
__That wants to hide away  
__You can shine  
__Forget about the reasons why you can't in life  
__And start to try  
__Because it's your time  
__Time to fly_

Was she ready?

Were they ready?

What if they all died again?

Rika shook her head as all sorts of questions seeped in, deep into her skull, into her soul.

What if they failed?

It was her destiny.

_It's your destiny_, the distant moon seems to whisper. The stars winked at her with assurance.

Rika spread her wings wide to stop her ascent towards heaven and fell back down onto earth.

Perhaps it was time to return to the others, just to prepare for what's about to happen.

The sky darkened into blue, once again.

_All your worries  
__Leave them somewhere else  
__Find a dream you can follow  
__Reach for something  
__When there's nothing left  
__And the world's feeling hollow_

_Can you hear it calling?  
__Can you feel it in your soul?  
__Can you trust this longing?  
__And take control_

_And when you're down, if you're alone  
__Just want to run away  
__Trust yourself and don't give up  
__You know you're better than anyone else_

_Fly,  
__Forget about the reasons why you can't in life  
__And start to try  
__Because it's your time  
__Time to fly_

_In a moment  
__Everything can change…_

---

"It's coming," Henry whispered. He dropped the tongs he was using to reach the last of the 'Guilmon bun' at Takato's parents' store.

"Henry, are you alright?" Takato's mom asked, concerned as Henry picked up the tongs from the ground and handed it to her to be washed.

"Yeah, I just realized something very important. I'll come back some other time," Henry said, hurriedly and practically ran out of the store.

---

Alice slipped on a coat and opened the small window at the very corner of her room that leads to the front of the house – the exit she never uses because people can see. But it was the closest exit out. She muttered an invisibility spell she learned recently that saves more of her power, and jumped out of the window, her wings flapping, and soared into the night sky.

_Mom… Dad… I'll be back…_

---

Ryo healed the last skin tissue on the wound. He sighed and materialized his sword. He stuck it into a strap that he made for it, and hung it onto his back. He closed his eyes to feel the last moment of peace for him.

After a few moments, he put on his silver cross that his best friend, Ken, gave him as a present.

_I'll probably never be back…_

He opened his bedroom window and soared out and towards where the night was darkest.

---

Rika looked upwards to see Ryo, Alice and Henry, flying from their direction to where she was.

The ground beneath her shook impatiently, and spoke of the darkest creatures waiting to claw their way up. Rika's eyes turned upwards towards the moon. Slowly, the dragon-shaped clouds floated to cover it.

"Alright," Rika whispered; a whisper that travelled to the ears of Henry, Alice and Ryo.

"Yeah," They all replied and landed behind her.

When the moon was fully out of sight, the first black claw dug its way up above the earth.

---

Replies to Reviews

Alexian-goddess - Lets see. I used to live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, up north. I took a 4 hour plane all the way down to Houston, Texas, USA. Which is quite the change, as one place is like the north pole, and the other place the sou... wait, no, the south pole's pretty cold too, ne? Hm. Let's try that again. One place is like the north pole, and the other is like the equator. There we go. Eh, I'm exaggerating. - -;; I agree, RyoxRika is cute. And thank you for all your... three reviews. xD

Oceam - Glad to see you come back to review. D Flashbacks... I use them when I want to remind something, because of my lack of updates, I'm sure most my readers forgot what this story's about. They are also used when there's nothing else to write.- -; Thanks for your review. xD

karika88 - Well, this is as soon as I could. Hope it wasn't too late. Thanks for your review!

Thunder Demon - I try, I really do. I know I should get a beta reader, but... well, a) I'm too lazy; b) I don't have that much time; and c) I'm not willing to dip my hands into something unfamiliar at this time of ... time. - -;; Sorry for all my language trip ups. Point them out and I'll be happy to correct them. Thanks for your review!

kunoichixxkanna - I'm glad you liked the chapter, or story. If you'll read my response to Oceam, you'll know why I did the flashback. Thanks a bunch for your review. xD

Hellomimmy - Wow, I remember a few years back, when I didn't have an account, I think, I was reading your stories. xD I'm really flattered you think my story's neat, and thanks a bunch for your review!

knowlee - yep, no one can remember. Not even me sometimes, truthfully. "Now, what were they called? ... oh yes, that's it. You know, in my time, people updated in regular paces instead of slacking off..." - -;; Thanks for your review!

DarkDevil666 - Glad you liked the last chapter. I hope this one isn't a bore.

Despot Dragon Necrophades - Sorry about keeping everyone waiting, and giving such a lame result. No, I'm sure you had a profile page once upon a time, I remember reading it. I think... Thanks for being honest. And honestly, I think my writing generally sucks, and I'm flattered that you, or anyone, isstill reading this and even giving a review. -sigh- Well, anyways, thanks once again for your review. :)

---

A/N: Oh boy… how am I going to write a chapter filled with action? I usually avoid the full bit of those. I don't suppose anyone's willing to help?

Thank you for everyone who reviewed. Please review or email of ideas for the fight scenes… I know the ending. I just have to get there… If no one suggests anything, I'm just probably going to skip over the fight scene.

This story itself was supposed to be around twenty something chapters. I had so much more planned. But I figured, if I don't finish this now, I'll never finish it.Anyways. Ja,


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